Kamala Harris went right for the jugular and baited Trump about his rally crowd size. Then Trump went off the rails.

• Kamala Harris trolled Donald Trump during their debate, saying people leave his rallies early.
• Trump took the bait, was visibly rattled, and started ranting in response.
• Instead of responding to a question about immigration, Trump countered that nobody attends Harris' rallies.

Vice President Kamala Harris successfully trolled former President Donald Trump on debate night and appeared to get under the GOP presidential nominee's skin.

In her response to a question about her handling of immigration policy, Harris said Trump often invokes immigration as a tactic to scare voters — despite having told GOP members of Congress to vote against a bipartisan bill that would have increased the numbers of border patrol agents to address issues like drug and gun trafficking.

Trump, Harris said, "would rather run on a problem than fixing a problem."

"He talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer," Harris continued. "And what you will also notice is people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about, is you."

Trump seized upon the suggestion that people would leave his rallies early. Instead of responding to the question about immigration policy, he fired back that "nobody goes" to Harris' rallies, suggesting that people in attendance are being "bussed in" and "paid to go" to her events.

"She said people start leaving. People don't go to her rallies," Trump said. "So she can't talk about that. People don't leave my rallies."

Trump, where he had stayed on message in his debate with President Joe Biden, quickly appeared angry.

He fell back on his frequent talking points, saying, "We're a failing nation," and that his supporters "want to take the country back," then repeated a racist rumor about migrants eating cats and dogs.

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs — the people that came in — they're eating the cats," Trump ranted. "They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is What's happening in our county."

ABC moderator David Muir fact-checked Trump's claim, saying the city manager of Springfield said the city received no credible reports of "pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."