The morning after Vice President Kamala Harris and former US President Donald Trump‘s first debate, it is far from clear if Trump will agree to a rematch.
Speaking to 9News, the Republican nominee said he gave his all and believed it was his strongest performance to date.
“Pretty close to a 10 [out of 10], that was our best debate,” Trump said backstage after the debate.
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This was Harris’ first presidential debate and Trump’s seventh – he’s done more than any other candidate in history – but it’s possible there may not be an eighth.
Multiple TV networks are eager to host another match-up between the pair in October.
The Harris campaign, exuding confidence after Harris baited Trump on stage on Tuesday night, immediately said she would agree to a second debate with the ex-president.
But Trump is not committing to a sequel.
“When you win the debate, I don’t, I don’t know that I want to do another debate,” Trump said in a phone interview on Wednesday morning (late Wednesday AEST) with Fox News.
Speaking with the hosts of Fox & Friends, Trump insulted Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, the two anchors that Fox has pitched as potential debate moderators in October.
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“I wouldn’t want to have Bret and Martha,” he said, before proposing Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters or Laura Ingraham instead.
It is self-evident that Fox’s primetime stars, who exist more in the realm of entertainment than news, are never going to moderate a general election debate. So if that’s the starting point for negotiations, don’t expect another debate.
But Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said on CNN This Morning that Trump “has already said that he is going to do three debates”. Miller blamed Harris for dodging Trump’s talk of a September 25 debate hosted by NBC.
The Harris campaign, however, wants the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance to happen next. CBS is hosting that face-off on October 1.
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That’s why Harris spokesman Brian Fallon said last night, “That was fun. Let’s do it again in October.”
NBC and other networks stand ready to host a Harris-Trump rematch in October.
Trump on Wednesday also assailed ABC after the debate moderators fact-checked the former president in real-time during the prime time Philadelphia match-up.
“CNN was much more honourable” during the June debate, Trump told Fox & Friends, calling Disney-owned ABC “the most dishonest news organisation, and that’s saying a lot”.
Trump repeatedly claimed the debate “was three on one” and suggested Disney’s FCC broadcast licenses should be revoked due to the moderators’ conduct.
“They are a news organisation – they have to be licensed to do it – they ought to take away their licence for the way they did that,” he said.
While the 45th US President was confident in his performance in the debate, Wall Street was less so.
Investors swiftly penalised Trump’s social media business following the former president’s widely panned debate performance.
Shares of Trump Media and Technology Group plunged 10 per cent in pre-market trading on Wednesday, leaving them on pace to open at the lowest level since the Truth Social owner went public in late March.
The sharp sell-off represents an immediate reaction to the ABC presidential debate, where Harris successfully threw Trump off his game.
It’s the exact opposite of the reaction in Trump Media’s share price on June 28 after President Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in the CNN debate. Trump Media initially spiked 10 per cent that day, before fizzling and ending in the red.
Trump Media has at times become a way for traders to bet on the political fortunes of Trump and the chances he returns to the White House.
“The perception in the market is she won the debate,” Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN on Wednesday, pointing to shifts in Harris’ favour in the betting markets overnight.
Trump Media’s share price rallied heading into the debate, jumping nine per cent during the first two days of this week.
But in the bigger picture, the stock has struggled badly in recent months, losing about half its value since Biden dropped out of the race for the White House in July.
The value of Trump’s stake in the company has fallen sharply, going from $US6.2 billion ($9.3 billion) on May 9 to $US1.8 billion ($2.7 billion), based on Wednesday’s premarket trading price.
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