Republican nominee for president Donald Trump is doing post-debate narrative framing on social media today and proclaiming victory after a performance that did not lend itself to the kind of post-debate framing he performed after the election-altering June 27 debate against Joe Biden.
By all accounts, Vice President Kamala Harris was a more formidable opponent on the debate stage than the lackluster Biden. And while MAGA loyalists are rallying to Trump’s side to claim that he won the Harris showdown, other notable conservatives are less sanguine about whether Trump helped his electoral chances in Philadelphia last night.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a Trump supporter, called the Trump-Harris debate a “missed opportunity.”
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), a Trump detractor, classified Trump’s performance as “classic” Trump — presumably not delivered as a compliment — and credited Harris with demonstrating that “she’s an intelligent, capable person.”
Romney: This was a classic Trump performance. In the case of Kamala Harris… people saw she's an intelligent, capable person who has a point of view on issues. She demonstrated that time and again. pic.twitter.com/4Lzp2fpmAP
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 11, 2024
In the immediate debate aftermath, Trump said he would “think about” whether he’d be willing to participate in a second debate with Harris, while the Harris campaign — coming off what it saw as a strong performance — put out word that the Democratic nominee would welcome another bout with the former President.
In a Truth Social post, Trump portrayed Harris’s rematch readiness as a desire on her part to avenge a loss, while her camp envisions a second debate as an opportunity to further cement her victory — and to continue to make the case that Romney says she made.
In his post, Trump used his familiar rhetorical strategy of citing statistics or stories as fact while leaving his sources ambiguous. In explaining why he would be reluctant to debate again, Trump said Harris was “beaten badly last night” and that “Every poll has us WINNING, in one case, 92-8.”
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