Trump Accidentally Compliments Kamala While Running Scared From Another Debate

If the first presidential debate of 2024 left Republicans feeling optimistic about their chosen candidate's chances at the polls, the second allowed for a few seeds of doubt to take hold. In fact, Former President Donald Trump's behavior during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris showed that his confidence had crumbled since the first go-round. From the moment Harris shook hands with Trump, The List's body language expert confirmed, she was ready to go toe-to-toe with him. While the Democratic candidate was criticized for avoiding direct answers on some issues, Harris scored points with many for her persuasive delivery, her cool under pressure, and her emphasis on unity over fearmongering. Not surprisingly, Taylor Swift offered her full endorsement immediately after the broadcast.

The face-off was a massive hit with viewers; the Associated Press reports over 67 million people tuned in. And apparently Trump was impressed as well. Less than an hour after the debate, he took to his Truth Social account to declare it "my best Debate, EVER, especially since it was THREE ON ONE!" From there, the controversial politician continued to post poll results and comments — all from right-leaning sources, naturally — declaring him the undisputed winner. And yet, despite his love of an audience and Trump's unsurprising claim of a win, he has no interest in going for Round 2. 

Though Harris and her team were in favor of a second debate, the former "Apprentice" host made his position clear. "When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, 'I WANT A REMATCH,'" he wrote on September 12. Trump went on to make some jabs at the Biden administration's handling of the border crisis and inflation, before returning to his all-caps promise: "THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!"

Donald Trump recently claimed that Joe Biden's true feelings on Kamala Harris were decidedly negative and the former president may have intended to deliver another crushing blow by refusing a second debate, but in doing so, he actually paid her an unintentional compliment. Comparing the VP to a "prizefighter" boxer suggests that she has the exceptional skills and strategy required to win only the most high-stakes matches. If Trump intended to insult Harris' abilities, a more appropriate insult would have been "palooka," a term for an inexperienced fighter who's not ready to play with the big boys.

For someone who claims to have won the debate, he also played the victim card a bit too much. The divisive politician floated the theory that Harris was given the moderators' questions ahead of time so she could formulate her arguments, proclaiming on Truth Social, "No Politician should ever do a Debate with ABC News." If Trump really had won on his merits — and Harris lost because she couldn't defend herself accordingly — then no amount of "cheating" on the network's part would have mattered. For good measure, the businessman also accused his opponent of ducking out on another debate he set up with Fox News a week earlier.

But is the door truly closed? The day after the debate, reporters caught Trump following a 9/11 memorial event in Shanksville, PA. Asked whether he would agree to a second match, the former president admitted, "I don't know. I just don't know. I'll think about it," (via X, formerly known as Twitter). Moreover, Trump also claimed he would consider a debate on NBC on September 25, two weeks after the ABC event took place. Considering his love of attention and "winning," don't be surprised if this self-appointed prizefighter decides to re-enter the ring after all.