Trump claims he did a ‘great job’ against Kamala Harris in debate, says it was ‘unfair’ and ‘rigged’
Former President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday he did a “great job” debating Vice President Kamala Harris — despite both ABC News moderators being “unfair” to him — and said he was unsure whether he will agree to another debate.
“When you win, you don’t really necessarily have to do it a second time, so we’ll see,” said the Republican nominee, 78, during a visit to Shanksville, Pa., on the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“I would do NBC, I would do Fox too, but right now we have to determine whether or not we ever want to do it.”
The 45th president, who rarely passes up an opportunity to address millions of viewers on live TV, is widely considered even by fellow Republicans to have lost the debate by allowing Harris to distract him from focusing on her record and controversial past policies via personal attacks.
Trump repeatedly took aim Wednesday at moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis for repeatedly fact-checking and debunking him during the forum in Philadelphia.
“It was three on one,” Trump said during an early morning appearance on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
“I thought I did a great job.”
“It was a rigged deal, as I assumed it would be, because when you looked at the fact that they were correcting everything and not correcting with her,” he continued, claiming that “six or seven times she told an outright lie” that was not challenged.
“It was a three-on-one — that’s OK, I’ve had worse odds before, but never so obvious,” he said of the moderators.
“They’re dishonest. I think ABC took a big hit last night … They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.”
Muir and Davis corrected Trump a total of five times during the 90-minute debate — a move that left many Republicans seething over what they slammed as a lack of even-handedness due to the fact that they corrected none of Harris’ factually disputed statements.
Still, the former commander-in-chief was confident he was triumphant during his and Harris’ first — and quite possibly only — debate ahead of the November election.
“I’ve been told I’m a good debater,” Trump said. “I think it was one of my better debates, maybe my best debate.”
Meanwhile, Trump went on to suggest Harris is now only pressing for a second debate “because the loser always asks for a rematch.”
“I won the debate … I don’t know if I want to do another debate,” he said.
The Harris campaign immediately challenged Trump to a second debate just moments after their first showdown ended.
Trump’s reaction to his face-off with Harris comes despite him repeatedly finding himself on the back foot as the VP baited him with jabs at his economic policy, his refusal to concede his 2020 election loss and even his performance at his rallies.
Harris, on her part, delivered a far stronger appearance than the dismal showing by President Biden in June that stoked Democratic fears of a Trump landslide victory.
The Democratic candidate managed to avoid major gaffes and deflected potentially damaging questions about her record and evolving stances on a range of major issues.
