The first live US presidential debate was shown on TV on Tuesday night in America, prompting exasperated responses from a number of mortified high-profile celebrities.
And one star who made sure that her voice was heard (and trust us, it was heard, just ask her neighbours) was Cardi B, who offered her own unique commentary throughout the debate on Instagram.
Since her rise to global fame, the chart-topping rapper has been heavily critical of US president Donald Trump, and a vocal supporter of the Democratic Party, first endorsing Bernie Sanders and later interviewing candidate Joe Biden for Elle magazine.
During the debate, Cardi posted a number of updates on Instagram, becoming part cheerleader and part soccer mum as she loudly cheered on Joe Biden from home.
![Cardi B](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5f7449331f00001f040c0fb4.jpeg?cache=kwl2ZnYXgq&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
As Trump began making personal digs about Biden’s intelligence, the WAP star was heard shouting at the TV in a number of social media posts (just be prepared for some not-family-friendly language, obv):
She became even more animated when the subject of Trump’s taxes came up in the discussion, following reports the president and former reality star “paid just $750 in federal income taxes” between 2016 and 2017:
And she also showed her support for the debate’s moderator, joking: “This man gets me hot.”
At the end of the debate, Cardi was seemingly as exhausted as everyone else, particularly when the US president made personal digs about his opponent’s son, who was dismissed from the military.
She lamented: “I’m not even going to front, I really felt really bad when Trump came for Biden’s son like that. I feel like that was very unnecessary, especially because you wanna know something, Joe Biden’s family have suffered through so much shit, especially because his wife and one of his kids got killed in a car accident. You know what I’m saying? So you can imagine what type of pain and what type of shit his son had to turn to for comfort.”
She added: “I wish that fucking Joe Biden would have spoken to me before he did that debate, because I would have told him he better roast his ass and I got mad jokes under my belt.”
The debate included segments on the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and climate change.
Many stars – including Mark Ruffalo, John Legend and Pete Davidson – were highly critical of the president.
“We can’t put ourselves through another 4 years of this walking dumpster fire,” Legend, a frequent critic of Trump, said.
Marvel star Ruffalo, a climate change activist, criticised Trump’s environmental record and said “he has no leadership qualities, he has shown that all he can do is denigrate and lie”.
And best-selling author Stephen King, another vocal critic of the president, said: “You’ve got a decent man vs. a hulking, loudmouth bully with no specific plans on anything.”
![Donald Trump and Joe Biden](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5f742b9e240000be04d12763.jpeg?cache=qNIfGwxW57&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
In an Instagram post, Glenn Close said she was “mortified that the world was watching” and encouraged people to “vote vote vote”.
And as many Americans watched through their fingers, it was left to Star Wars legend Mark Hamill to sum up what the US – and the rest of the world – was thinking.
“That debate was the worst thing I’ve ever seen & I was in The Star Wars Holiday Special,” he tweeted.
The US president’s unwillingness to disavow white supremacists also saw many famous names fiercely condemning him on Twitter.
Actress Kerry Washington, best known for her work on political drama Scandal, tweeted: “Once again. He refuses to condemn White supremacy. PAY ATTENTION FOLKS. Please vote.”