Inside the spin room: Surrogates tout debate performances as Harris and Trump clash

PHILADELPHIA — With the eyes of the nation on the debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump at the National Constitution Center, surrogates on both sides of the aisle generally agreed on two things. They thought their candidate won and hope for more debates in the future.

“I think there were several moments where Donald Trump seemed unhinged, kind of spewed conspiracy theories and a whole lot of nonsense, and it was kind of a reminder of the chaos of Trump in the past and so that stood out to me,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in the spin room inside the Convention Center a few blocks away from the debate stage. “The other thing that stood out to me was the way Kamala Harris not only prosecuted the case against Trump, but also made clear what her vision is for moving us forward.”

Shapiro said Harris did an “excellent job,” adding that “we’ve got to turn a page on the past and look forward.”

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) told reporters that he saw the debate as a “slight win” for Trump and said Harris didn’t directly answer questions related to policy.

“Kamala Harris dodged every major question facing the American people. She spent her time attacking Donald Trump,” he said. “Donald Trump was focused on inflation and our border and foreign policy. She was not.”

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said Harris made a presidential presentation.

“She’s shown that she’s going to be a president for all Americans, and she made a great case on why it’s time to turn the page on Donald Trump,” he said. “On every single issue, she put him on the defensive and deservedly so.”

Florida U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican, said Trump’s attempts to suggest Harris would ban fracking, a move she previously advocated for but now says she no longer supports, might hit home in Pennsylvania, which is a top producer of natural gas.

“There are a lot of voters in Pennsylvania who care about energy and who care about fracking, and President Trump effectively made the case that Kamala Harris believes in ending fracking,” Gaetz said.

Tuesday night was the second presidential debate of the cycle, but the first time that Trump and Harris faced off since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Republicans and Democrats want to see Harris and Trump go head to head again before November’s presidential election.

“I’d love to see another debate. I hope to see another debate,” California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said in the spin room. “If you’re Donald Trump, you’re running away from this debate. You’re doing the grievance stuff, you’re talking about how everything was somehow, you know, rigged against you. It’s a pity party.”

Donalds agreed there needs to be another debate, but had a different take on how Tuesday night’s was moderated.

“I think these debates are very important,” Donalds said. “Now that we’ve done ABC and I mean, let’s be very clear, the moderators did not fact check her at all. She lied repeatedly in this debate.”

Shapiro said “anytime a team is whining about the refs, it’s because they lost."

Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign senior adviser, said Trump has wanted three debates all along and Harris wanting more would be an “indication that she knows that she has more work to do.”

Polling between Harris and Trump has been neck and neck in several battleground states, including Pennsylvania. There were differing views as to how much the debate might change that dynamic.

Newsom said it “would be determined” if the polls would move following the debate, but added that, due to Harris’ performance, he said he “can’t imagine it won’t move the needle.”

Donalds said the debate won’t change poll numbers. “What this debate really did is it solidified the concerns that a lot of people have about Kamala Harris. She will not talk about substance,” he said.

Cooper wasn’t sure.

“What I do know is that Kamala Harris showed why she should be the next president. Donald Trump showed why he should not,” Cooper said. “And I hope if enough swing voters watched this debate, that it could very well affect the polls. … But the poll we have to remember that counts is Election day.”

Shapiro pointed out that the two previous presidential elections were close, but said that the “wind was at” Harris’ back, while Murtaugh said that he doesn’t think “there’s any way she can win Pennsylvania.”

Following the debate, Trump made an appearance in the spin room, declaring victory and airing some grievances.

“We thought it was our best debate ever. It was my best debate ever I think,” he said. “It showed how weak they are, how pathetic they are.”

Trump also claimed there were “a lot of great polls out” that showed he had won the debate, even though television commentators noted that a candidate entering the “spin room” was generally a sign the debate hadn’t gone well.

While Trump made an appearance in the spin room, Harris visited a nearby watch party at Cherry Street Pier.

Dispatches before the debate

Among the other surrogates on hand before the debate were U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, and Rick Scott, a Florida Republican.

“Remind them Donald Trump is a convicted felon, five -time draft dodger, who cares only about one person, that’s Donald Trump, who’s done everything he can to support his wealthy friends, but at the same time, let the middle class defend for itself,” Duckworth said in the spin room.

Scott said “everybody knows Trump,” and argued that the debate would be more about Harris having to defend the Biden administration prior to the debate.

“They know with Trump you’re going to get a secure border, a good economy, and not a war,” Scott said in the spin room. “I think what’s going to happen is Harris is going to have to figure out how to explain her past.”

Donalds, speaking with reporters in front of Max’s Steaks in Philadelphia during a “Black Voters for Trump” bus tour earlier on Tuesday, said Americans’ lives were better during Trump’s administration and that would be a selling point for voters in the debate.

“He leaves the White House, and everything has gone wrong,” said Donalds, who ordered a cheesesteak (provolone with onions) and added that Harris “was riding shotgun” with Biden during the current administration.

According to 2020 exit polling, 92% of Black voters supported Biden in Pennsylvania, while 7% backed Trump.

Donalds said 12-15% is the floor for the Trump campaign for Black voters in Pennsylvania and believed it’s feasible for him to win 15-20%.

Joining Donalds at the cheesesteak spot in North Philadelphia on the bus tour was former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a former Democrat turned independent whose prison sentence was commuted by Trump. He told reporters that he sees similarities between “Democratic bastions” like Philadelphia and Detroit, but added that he believes the Democratic Party has moved to the left in recent years, which led him to leaving the party.

Kilpatrick predicted Trump would perform better in 2024 with Black voters in Pennsylvania, adding that Biden had stronger numbers due to events in 2020, including the murder of George Floyd and the national debate about race it unleashed.

“The issues of race were so weighted and heavy, and the issues of division were more and I think people are trying to create that atmosphere now, but it’s not the same,” Kilpatrick said.

Though he backs Trump, Kilpatrick didn’t underestimate Harris and the impact the debate could have.

“As far as presidential elections go, debates are not usually that important,” Kilpatrick said. “This though, I think in all the debate history is the most critical and the most profoundly important one ever because of the juxtaposition of these two candidates.”

“A woman of color, a white male. Trump’s personality, her friendly, laughing personality, couldn’t be more starkly different, But I believe their policy positions couldn’t be more different as well,” he added, although he said Harris “can articulate a point,” while Biden struggled in the previous debate.

U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-4th District) told reporters in the spin room earlier in the evening that she wanted “Kamala to be Kamala” during the debate and for her to avoid taking the bait on “nonsensical” things from Trump.

“I want her to be herself, make the case against Mr. Trump,” Dean said.

“But much, much, much, more importantly, make the case for my children and my grandchildren. What’s the positive future that is here for us, which I know she can make. Take a look at what has happened with the economy under the Biden-Harris administration. We need to just grow from that,” Dean added.

A few minutes before Dean spoke to reporters, she was unexpectedly joined by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Trump supporter who ended his third-party presidential campaign in August, during a live TV interview. Dean said she had “no idea why he popped in” during her one-on-one interview on TV, but said she told him that she admired his father, the former U.S. attorney general and senator who was assasinated in 1968.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick, who is attempting to unseat U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), told reporters at a separate event on Tuesday morning in Bucks County that he “wouldn’t presume to give the president advice on how to conduct his debate,” but did share what he believed would be the key.

“I think he needs to just let Kamala Harris defend a set of positions that are wildly out of step with Pennsylvania,” McCormick said, arguing that the current administration has exhibited “weak leadership.”

Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kim Lyons for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Facebook and X.