By Wednesday morning, former President Donald J. Trump had settled on a clear message about his defensive and scowling performance in the ABC News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris:
I’m not the loser. ABC is the loser.
“I thought it was terrible from the standpoint of ABC,” Mr. Trump said in a live interview on “Fox & Friends,” during which he assailed the network’s moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, for what he deemed a biased approach. “They are the most dishonest, in my opinion, the most dishonest news organization.”
Mr. Trump said that ABC “lost a lot of credibility,” “took a big hit” and “should be embarrassed” because Mr. Muir and Ms. Davis fact-checked several of his answers, while, in his view, giving Ms. Harris a pass. He mused that the network ought to lose its broadcasting license.
Most strikingly of all, perhaps, Mr. Trump yearned for happier days — with CNN.
“CNN was much more honorable,” he said, a surprising remark from a man who spent years painting that news organization as a poster child for media bias. “The debate we had with Biden was a much more honorable one,” referring to the debate in June that was calamitous for Mr. Biden.
For the “Fox & Friends” team, the moment seemed ripe to secure a commitment from Mr. Trump to participate in a debate on their own network, a goal that Fox News has pursued for months. The anchor Steve Doocy raised the notion of a Fox debate moderated by the network’s lead political anchors, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
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But it turned out Mr. Trump wasn’t thrilled about that idea, either.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to have Martha and Bret; I would love to have somebody else other than Martha and Bret,” Mr. Trump said, before ticking off his preferred alternatives, including the Fox pundits Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters. “Let’s give other people a shot,” he said.
It became apparent that Mr. Trump had taken time overnight to closely review Fox News’s post-debate coverage. “I didn’t think Martha and Bret were good last night,” he said. “I thought Jesse was fantastic.” He said that he found Harold Ford Jr., another Fox News analyst, “just as dishonest as ABC.”
Mr. Doocy’s co-host, Brian Kilmeade, piped up to defend his colleagues. “I think Bret and Martha would do a phenomenal job,” he said. “I think you would find them extremely fair.” Mr. Trump remained noncommittal.
The former president’s comments came amid a broader backlash against ABC News from Mr. Trump’s allies, who coalesced around a talking point that the debate had functioned as a “three on one.” Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime Trump supporter, wrote that the ABC moderators “might as well be on the DNC payroll.”
Mr. Muir and Ms. Davis fact-checked, in real time, several of Mr. Trump’s outlandish claims, like a debunked yarn that migrants in Ohio were eating the pets of local residents. By one count, Mr. Trump issued more than two dozen falsehoods over the course of the evening. Ms. Harris’s factually questionable statements were more misleading than flagrantly untrue.
Before signing off from “Fox & Friends,” Mr. Trump concocted his own conspiracy theory to explain Ms. Harris’s strong performance, claiming she had been told ahead of time what questions to expect. “I watched her talk, and I said, ‘You know, she seems awfully familiar with the questions,’” Mr. Trump said. (According to ABC News’s ground rules for the debate, no questions were provided to the candidates in advance.)
Mr. Trump wrapped up with his version of an upbeat note.
“Some of the media is honest; it’s not all dishonest,” he said. “That’s the good news. But much of it is. I would say close to 80 percent. I mean, seriously dishonest.”
I’m not the loser. ABC is the loser.
“I thought it was terrible from the standpoint of ABC,” Mr. Trump said in a live interview on “Fox & Friends,” during which he assailed the network’s moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, for what he deemed a biased approach. “They are the most dishonest, in my opinion, the most dishonest news organization.”
Mr. Trump said that ABC “lost a lot of credibility,” “took a big hit” and “should be embarrassed” because Mr. Muir and Ms. Davis fact-checked several of his answers, while, in his view, giving Ms. Harris a pass. He mused that the network ought to lose its broadcasting license.
Most strikingly of all, perhaps, Mr. Trump yearned for happier days — with CNN.
“CNN was much more honorable,” he said, a surprising remark from a man who spent years painting that news organization as a poster child for media bias. “The debate we had with Biden was a much more honorable one,” referring to the debate in June that was calamitous for Mr. Biden.
For the “Fox & Friends” team, the moment seemed ripe to secure a commitment from Mr. Trump to participate in a debate on their own network, a goal that Fox News has pursued for months. The anchor Steve Doocy raised the notion of a Fox debate moderated by the network’s lead political anchors, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
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But it turned out Mr. Trump wasn’t thrilled about that idea, either.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to have Martha and Bret; I would love to have somebody else other than Martha and Bret,” Mr. Trump said, before ticking off his preferred alternatives, including the Fox pundits Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters. “Let’s give other people a shot,” he said.
It became apparent that Mr. Trump had taken time overnight to closely review Fox News’s post-debate coverage. “I didn’t think Martha and Bret were good last night,” he said. “I thought Jesse was fantastic.” He said that he found Harold Ford Jr., another Fox News analyst, “just as dishonest as ABC.”
Mr. Doocy’s co-host, Brian Kilmeade, piped up to defend his colleagues. “I think Bret and Martha would do a phenomenal job,” he said. “I think you would find them extremely fair.” Mr. Trump remained noncommittal.
The former president’s comments came amid a broader backlash against ABC News from Mr. Trump’s allies, who coalesced around a talking point that the debate had functioned as a “three on one.” Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime Trump supporter, wrote that the ABC moderators “might as well be on the DNC payroll.”
Mr. Muir and Ms. Davis fact-checked, in real time, several of Mr. Trump’s outlandish claims, like a debunked yarn that migrants in Ohio were eating the pets of local residents. By one count, Mr. Trump issued more than two dozen falsehoods over the course of the evening. Ms. Harris’s factually questionable statements were more misleading than flagrantly untrue.
Before signing off from “Fox & Friends,” Mr. Trump concocted his own conspiracy theory to explain Ms. Harris’s strong performance, claiming she had been told ahead of time what questions to expect. “I watched her talk, and I said, ‘You know, she seems awfully familiar with the questions,’” Mr. Trump said. (According to ABC News’s ground rules for the debate, no questions were provided to the candidates in advance.)
Mr. Trump wrapped up with his version of an upbeat note.
“Some of the media is honest; it’s not all dishonest,” he said. “That’s the good news. But much of it is. I would say close to 80 percent. I mean, seriously dishonest.”
