WASHINGTON — Donald Trump emerged Wednesday from a rocky debate against Kamala Harris looking to regain his footing with 55 days until Election Day, the first ballots already going out in Alabama and other states on the cusp of early voting.
Not even three months ago, Trump stepped off the debate stage in Atlanta having watched President Joe Biden deliver a disjointed, whispery performance that led the 81-year-old Democrat to end his reelection bid and endorse Harris, his vice president. By the end of Tuesday night, it was the 78-year-old Trump on the defensive after the 59-year-old Harris controlled much of the debate, repeatedly baiting the Republican former president into agitated answers replete with exaggerations and mistruths.
The performance left many Republicans scrambling to pick apart Harris’ performance and insist that Trump still has time to refocus on the economy, immigration and other issues that could sway a closely divided electorate.
“I think the contrast could have been drawn more sharply on what her policies have done over the last three and a half years,” said Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia in a critique of the former president’s approach. “That’s what I would have focused on.”
Harris’ campaign immediately pitched the idea of a second debate. Fox News has proposed an October matchup but with moderators that Trump has indicated he does not prefer. And he said via his Truth Social account Wednesday that there is no need for a second round,
“In the World of Boxing or UFC, when a Fighter gets beaten or knocked out, they get up and scream, “I DEMAND A REMATCH, I DEMAND A REMATCH!” Well, it’s no different with a Debate,” Trump wrote, as he claimed victory. “She was beaten badly last night … so why would I do a Rematch?”
Trump and Harris were together briefly Wednesday in New York, where they joined President Biden and other dignitaries to mark the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. They shook hands for the second time in 12 hours, with the first coming when Harris approached Trump on the debate stage to introduce herself in the first sign of the aggressive approach she would take during the event.
The former president, who flouted convention with a surprise appearance late Tuesday in the post-debate spin room, insisted he won the night, though he also blasted ABC moderators as unfair. It was a tacit acknowledgement that he did not accomplish what he wanted against Harris. Trump and some of his allies in online posts speculated about punishing ABC by taking away its broadcast license — the network doesn’t need a license to operate but individual stations do — or denying access to its reporters.
“We had a great night. We won the debate. We had a terrible, a terrible network,” Trump said Wednesday on Fox News. “They should be embarrassed. I mean they kept correcting me and what I said was largely right or I hope it was right.”
Harris was jubilant late Tuesday, telling late-night rallygoers in Philadelphia that it was a “great night,” even as she repeated that she sees Democrats as “underdogs” against Trump.
She won the endorsement of music and cultural star Taylor Swift as a range of political commentators and strategists on both sides of the political aisle expressed a broad consensus that she bested Trump. Still, there was no evidence the debate yielded immediate broad shifts toward Harris among people who watched, and the Trump campaign pointed to news reports featuring voices of undecided voters not being swayed for her.
His campaign was not considering any strategy or staffing changes, said an official who was not authorized to speak publicly by name. Trump hit the points he needed to hit, the official said, and the debate felt lopsided because Harris was not pressed by the moderators, especially on her moving away from her earlier, more liberal positions on some issues.
Harris senior campaign aides were pleased with her performance but still see a 50-50 race. The debate in their view was a maximized opportunity: Harris communicated her priorities and held Trump accountable in front of a national audience, including voters who were first tuning into the campaign. Their job over the next eight weeks, they say, is to capitalize on the performance by reaching and organizing their targeted coalition.
About 6 in 10 debate-watchers said that Harris outperformed Trump, while about 4 in 10 said that Trump did a better job, according to a flash poll conducted by CNN. Before the debate, the same voters were evenly split on whether Trump or Harris would win.
The vast majority of interviewed debate-watchers — who do not reflect the views of the full voting public — also said that the event wouldn’t affect their votes in the election. Perceptions of the two candidates remain largely unchanged.
“He says a lot of stuff. And he’s said so many things over the years. And if you want to internalize that in a way that you think is any different from the past — my point is, that doesn’t make much difference,” insisted Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind.
Nonetheless, with pending battles for control of the House and Senate, Republicans on Capitol Hill found themselves answering for Trump’s most outlandish statements, notably his claim that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating domestic cats and dogs..
When Florida Sen. Rick Scott was asked about the appropriateness of Trump’s comments, he deferred questions to Hung Cao, the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia. “President Trump is President Trump, and you’ve got to admire him for that,” said Cao.
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire allowed that Harris won by traditional debate standards but fell short in convincing swing voters focused on their economic conditions.
“The majority of those swing voters are still results driven,” Sununu said on CNN, adding that Trump still has opportunities to sway voters if he concentrates on the economy, immigration and, especially, foreign policy.
Yet even when talking policy, Trump handed Democrats a cudgel with his answers on health care. After twice running for president on promises of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, commonly called “Obamacare,” Trump falsely insisted that he saved the 2010 law. At the same time, Trump stood by his long-standing promises to replace the law with something better but when pressed acknowledged that he still had no specific proposal.
“I have concepts of a plan,” Trump said in a remark that became quick fodder for online memes and merchandise.
Braun promised those voters will hear more about GOP accomplishments and proposals, but acknowledged that it may not be Trump leading that effort: “Whether he does it or the rest of us have to do it, the case will be made between now and November 5th.”
