Donald Trump Explains Why He’s Done With Debates

Following Tuesday’s debate against Kamala Harris, President Donald Trump declared that he would not be participating in any future showdowns with his Democratic rival.

Former President Trump says 🇺🇸There will be no third debate. When a prize fighter loses a fight, they beg for a rematch. That is what Comrade Kamala is doing because I destroyed her on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/4Flmq4i3Es

— World life (@seautocure) September 12, 2024

In a statement to the New York Post, Trump went into greater detail about his decision:

“We just don’t think that there’s any need for it,” the 45th president exclusively told The Post Thursday after announcing on Truth Social he would not take the stage against Vice President Kamala Harris again.

“We’ve done two. You know, one against Biden [on June 27], one against Comrade Kamala. I did well. I did really well,” the 78-year-old said during a phone interview.

“The debate polls, every single poll, had us winning it.”

Shortly before Trump’s announcement, the campaign blasted out a “confidential memorandum” claiming that its internal polling had showed the Republican nominee gaining two percentage points on Harris among likely voters across seven unidentified “target states.”

ABC News received significant backlash over its seemingly biased moderation of the debate, with some critics speculating that the event was rigged in Harris’ favor.

While working for CNN in 2016, Donna Brazile gave Hillary Clinton the questions for her debate with Donald Trump in advance.

Now, Donna Brazile works for ABC…

Hmmm? pic.twitter.com/ObNictwmbn

— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) September 12, 2024

BREAKING: ABC whistleblower allegedly will release an affidavit claiming the Harris campaign was given sample questions that were “essentially the same questions that were given during the debate,” as well as assurances that Trump would be “fact-checked” and she would not.

— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) September 12, 2024

🚨BREAKING: It is now confirmed that Kamala Harris cheated and rigged the debate.

– Kamala was given the questions before the debate.

– Kamala was told that she would not be fact checked no matter what she said and that Trump would be fact checked. pic.twitter.com/evP3v7XRrz

— Philip Anderson (@VoteHarrisOut) September 12, 2024

WHOA: CNN just HAMMERED ABC News for its biased presidential debate moderation.

ABC News constantly "fact checked" Trump and let Kamala off the hook for lying and dodging questions.

Even CNN sees the double standard. Wow.pic.twitter.com/dk22KtwaLB

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) September 12, 2024

Here’s how Trump reacted to the debate, per CNBC:

Donald Trump on Wednesday morning blasted ABC News moderators for hosting what the Republican presidential nominee called a “rigged” debate against Kamala Harris, and said government regulators “ought to take away” the “terrible” network’s “license for the way they did that.”

But Trump also said, “We did great” in the Tuesday night debate during a call-in interview with the “Fox and Friends” show on Fox News.

“It was one of my better debates, one of my best debates,” said the former president, who nonetheless griped that the debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis “corrected” him too frequently in his showdown with Harris.

Trump said the debate felt like he was battling three opponents: Vice President Harris, and the two ABC News moderators.

Here’s how one CNN contributor assessed the situation:

No reason for Trump to do another debate. Next set of moderators would treat him even worse and give Harris another free pass. My view on @cnn last night. pic.twitter.com/HwTXuDLY74

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) September 12, 2024