Trump claims it was his ‘best debate ever’ as he rushes to spin room in clear sign of ‘a bad night’

Donald Trump has claimed the debate against Kamala Harris was “his best ever” as he rushed to the spin room to steer the narrative around the night – in a move commentators have described as a clear sign of “a bad night” for the former president.

As soon as the debate wrapped up on Tuesday night, the Republican presidential nominee made the rare, unusual decision to roam the spin room floor, where he told reporters: “It was my best debate ever, I think”.

When asked why he had entered the room instead of letting the performance speak for itself, Trump responded: “Well, I think it did… But people said would I come here, and I made an obligation to a couple of people that I’m going to do their show, but… I thought it was a great night.”

By contrast, Harris did not go to the spin room – but instead challenged Trump to a second showdown.

Typically, candidates would let their surrogates speak to reporters after a debate rather than making the case for their performance themselves.

Pundits commented how it was not “a great sign” to see the former president break from tradition in this way, suggesting his awareness that it was a “bad night.”

“Trump is in the spin room. Which if you know anything about spin rooms is usually not a great sign,” CNN Newsnight anchor Abby Phillip said in a post on X.

NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd echoed this view on the network: “When a candidate themselves goes into the spin room, they know they’ve had a bad night.”

“It is generally not considered a sign of acandidate thinking he had a good night, or she had a good night, when they go to the spin room to try and clean up what they just did,” CNN’s Jake Tapper said live on air.

“This wasn’t a good night. I’m not surprised he’s not