Political pundits, the news media, snap polls and politicians on both sides of the aisle declared Vice President Harris the winner of Tuesday’s debate, delivering renewed momentum for the Democrat with only 55 days to go.
Nearly 60 million people tuned in to see the debate, with Harris using her appearance to quash questions about whether she could go toe-to-toe with former President Trump on the biggest stage in politics.
Harris left Philadelphia with her momentum restored — and with a highly anticipated endorsement from the world’s biggest pop star, Taylor Swift.
It’s a huge boost for Harris entering the home stretch, as polls showed the race was deadlocked nationally and in the swing-states heading into the debate.
“Most people didn’t know her terribly well other than a few clips that that were not flattering that you might see on the Internet. And people saw, actually, she’s an intelligent, capable person who has a point of view on issues. And she actually demonstrated that time and again.” – Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
Trump, meanwhile, left Republicans grumbling about how he might’ve fumbled away a winnable race because he was unable to keep his cool.
The former president fixated on quixotic issues that could raise questions in the minds of swing voters about his demeanor, which has long been a sore spot.
Trump spent the day Wednesday lashing out at Swift and ABC News in between 9/11 memorial ceremonies.
The Harris campaign immediately threw down the gauntlet for a second debate, potentially offering Trump a chance to redeem himself.
But the former president appears hesitant to accept the offer, posting on his social media platform TruthSocial:
“She was beaten badly last night. Every Poll has us WINNING, in one case, 92-8, so why would I do a Rematch?”
In an interview on “Fox & Friends” this morning, Trump said he’d consider doing a debate with Fox News — but not if news anchors Martha MacCallum or Bret Baier moderate. Trump said he didn’t like how they described his performance Tuesday night.
Trump said he’d debate if one of Fox’s opinion personalities moderated, such as Sean Hannity or Jesse Watters. There is no chance Harris agrees to that.
NBC News had previously tried to schedule a Sept. 25 debate between Trump and President Biden, which could be an option if both parties agree.
Many Republicans went public with their frustration over Trump’s performance. Many more grumbled on background.
“The road just got very narrow. This is not good,” one House Republican told The Hill’s Mychael Schnell.
Many Republicans fumed at the ABC News moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, who repeatedly fact-checked Trump and pursued him for follow-up answers.
Still, conservatives acknowledged Trump was in many ways his own worst enemy on Tuesday night.
“It’s a little hard to blame the ref when you’re not making your own jump shots,” said CNN’s conservative commentator Scott Jennings.
For example, Trump at one point turned to the migrant situation in Springfield, Ohio, to blame Harris for being soft on the border.
But Trump did not make the case that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) is pleading for federal assistance as the community is struggling to assimilate the 15,000 Haitian immigrants that have arrived in the town of 59,000 since 2020.
Instead, Trump repeated a false Internet rumor about the migrants stealing and eating people’s pets.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets.”
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