Former President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday he did a “great job” facing off against Vice President Kamala Harris despite the presidential debate being “unfair” and “rigged.”
The Republican nominee, 78, took aim at the ABC moderators for repeatedly fact-checking and debunking him during Tuesday night’s debate 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.”
Moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis corrected Trump a total of four times during the 90-minute debate – a move that left many Republicans seething over what they slammed as a lack of even-handedness.
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.
