Set phasers to… spin. The most popular (and crowded) place to be before and after a presidential debate is the spin room, where surrogates from both sides of the aisle are swarmed by press asking for their instant reactions.
TVNewser joined the fray following the ABC News debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, overhearing the hot takes from politicians, policy officials and, in this rare case, Trump himself. The GOP candidate gatecrashed the spin room and briefly fielded questions without a microphone before heading to the Fox News podium. His verdict? He handily won the debate.
But not everyone agreed with that conclusion. Here’s how the debate looked according to the folks in the spin room.
Kamala Harris Surrogates
California Gov. Gavin Newsom [Speaking before the debate]
[Harris] just needs to be herself. Undecided voters are asking a simple question: “Who’s for me?” Tonight, they will see Donald Trump, who has only been for one thing—himself. And Kamala Harris, who has stood up for regular people and their rights her entire career has put on the table a platform that invests in the middle class and small businesses. I think undecided voters care mostly about who is going to fight for them, and I think that question can be answered tonight.
New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham
[Harris] made it clear that it’s easy for him to unravel because he’s only focused on himself, that he’s not really a commander in chief. He’s got no plan, no vision. She put him in a position to have to defend [his positions] and there’s no defending who he is. I’m willing to bet that voters in my state who may still be undecided are pretty clear about [Harris’ position on] tax policy and there being a child tax credit. She spent a lot of time on inflation and so did the moderators. The issue is, quite squarely, he wants to label her, she wants a bipartisan immigration deal, he killed that deal, not just once. He doesn’t want to fix problems—he wants to try to create them.
California Rep. Ted Lieu
Kamala Harris said there was much more that unites us than divides us, and Donald Trump made up weird stories about people eating dogs and cats. That’s good contrast right there! Her answer on abortion was very compelling and very good. People don’t want women bleeding out because doctors are afraid to give reproductive health care because of these insane Trump abortion bans.
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci
I can tell you the lines I liked: I liked the one where she said there’s more things that unite us than divide us. I’m hoping that it won’t just be that line [that will be used in ads] but it will be her facial expression and body language, because it was very empathic and brilliant.