GOP lawmakers and analysts virtually unanimous that Trump was second best to Harris in first presidential debate

Donald Trump’s campaign was in damage control mode on Wednesday amid widespread dismay among supporters over a presidential debate performance that saw Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, repeatedly goad him into going wildly off-message and missing apparent opportunities to tackle her on policy.

Even with Trump insisting to have won the debate “by a lot”, Republicans were virtually unanimous that Trump had come off second best in a series of exchanges that saw the vice-president deliberately bait him on his weak points while he responded with visible anger.

The Republican nominee – who took the unusual step afterwards of visiting the media spin room, a venue normally frequented only by candidates’ surrogates – was non-committal on Wednesday to the Harris campaign’s proposal for a second debate. Despite widespread opinion to the contrary, Trump suggested she needed it because she had lost. “I’d be less inclined to because we had a great night. We won the debate,” he told Fox & Friends.

  • Flying Squid
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    1272 months ago

    Also, I forgot to ask about this last night…

    “Where is he?” Trump asked. “They threw him out of the campaign like a dog.”

    Does Trump think you just kick dogs out of your home and they go away?

    • @cygnus@lemmy.ca
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      832 months ago

      Does Trump think you just kick dogs out of your home and they go away?

      If you live near immigrants, yes.

    • @wjrii@lemmy.world
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      222 months ago

      That’s one of his go-to turns of phrase, and like all his go-tos he grinds it into dust through overuse. Apparently, he is not a dog person.

    • Lemminary
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      162 months ago

      Where is he?

      Dunno, prolly running the country or smth. 🤷‍♂️

      • Flying Squid
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        142 months ago

        At the same debate, Trump also claimed that he was thrown out of office, that he doesn’t know whether or not he’s alive and that Kamala Harris IS Joe Biden.

        So I don’t think he actually knows that.

      • Flying Squid
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        102 months ago

        Yes, but more to the point, he doesn’t understand them or what people do to them. You can hate dogs to the point that you kick every dog you see, but you’ll still likely understand that if you throw a dog out of the house, the dog won’t usually leave and never come back.

    • @fine_sandy_bottom
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      142 months ago

      He just genuinely can not conceive of someone withdrawing voluntarily.