Bless His Heart: Trump Says He Won't Debate Harris Again Because He Won Their 1st Matchup

Welcome back to Barf Bag. 

Following Tuesday night's knockout, a delusional Donald Trump is not only acting like he won the debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, but he's also claiming that the Harris campaign only wants an October rematch because she lost.

To recap what actually happened on Tuesday: Trump yelled angrily and spewed lies about immigrants eating people's pets, while she wiped the floor with him on abortion and expertly baited him into whiny, defensive tangents about his crowd sizes and the January 6 rioters. Basically, every poll shows that viewers believed Harris won the debate. But even more telling is Trump's own allies admitting that he lost, and several saying he should debate her again to try to right the ship.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Trump's performance was a “disaster." Trump bootlicker Vivek Ramaswamy snidely admitted: “Harris exceeded the very low expectations that were purposely set for her.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that independents might rate Trump less favorably after the debate because he “got distracted, and it’s unfortunate.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said the former president should face Harris again, saying, “If I was in Trump’s position, I would.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) agreed, saying, “I believe we missed a lot of opportunities.” Another, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said Trump should only debate again if it's on a conservative network. Finally, the number two Senate Republican, Sen. John Thune (N.D.), said there should be another debate, telling reporters, "I think it would be helpful."

But on Thursday afternoon, Trump wrote on Truth Social that there would be no third debate (his first this cycle was with President Joe Biden on June 27). He invoked a boxing analogy saying, "When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, 'I WANT A REMATCH.'" Sir, this isn't boxing and Harris knows that people don't like the crazy shit you say, so she wants more of it on television.

https://twitter.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1834311454188863728

Trump repeated this absurd reasoning at a rally in Tuscon, Arizona, later Thursday night and again lied that polls showed he won. He added, "Because we've done two debates and they were successful, there will be no third debate."

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1834342951415419325

Embarrassingly, Trump's own senior advisor told CNN on Wednesday that the campaign had already agreed to a September 25 debate on NBC, but also refused to confirm that Trump would show up.

Meanwhile, the Harris campaign said on Friday morning that Trump is afraid to debate again because he doesn't want to defend the toxic positions he took on stage. They're setting a trap for Trump once again by calling him scared, and I have my popcorn at the ready.

• Republicans' racist and xenophobic lies that legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are killing and eating people's pets has resulted in violent threats including bomb threats to city hall and grade schools. [The Guardian/ABC News]
• Relatedly, the deranged Arizona Republican Party put up billboards in the style of Chick-fil-A ads saying "EAT LESS KITTENS. Vote Republican!" [The Washington Post]
• Trump attended a September 11 remembrance ceremony this week alongside far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who has claimed that the terrorist attack was "an inside job." Republicans are worried about how much time Trump is spending with Loomer, who attended the presidential debate and traveled on Trump’s plane. [NBC News/Axios]
• After Loomer tweeted a racist comment about Harris and curry, Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) had the audacity to claim that her behavior "does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA." [Mediaite]
• The National Republican Senatorial Committee is sweating over not having enough cash to compete in Senate races as the Harris campaign transfers millions to the Democratic equivalent. One slide reads: "WE WILL LOSE WINNABLE RACES DUE TO A LACK OF RESOURCES." Too bad, so sad. [Axios]
• Just hours after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) urged people to vote against a ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana use, Florida man Donald Trump said he would vote for it. [Politico]

This has been your weekly Barf Bag, thanks for reading!