The Harris/Trump Debate: What You Didn’t See on TV

Philadelphia was the center of the news media world on Tuesday night as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump met for their first—and potentially only—presidential debate. ABC News hosted the event, which saw the candidates meeting in a specially-made studio at the National Constitution Center.

Meanwhile, the assembled press corps—including TVNewser—congregated inside a cavernous Philadelphia Convention Center room where the debate played out on giant screens surrounding the room.

En route to the convention center, electronic billboards hyping both campaigns flashed above the city streets.

Passing by the National Constitution Center, impassioned protestors and one particularly boisterous Trump impersonator sought the attention of passersby.

Things were calmer inside the media center with hours to go until Harris and Trump took the stage. ABC News naturally had the prime position by the entrance, while outlets ranging from CNN and Fox News to Bloomberg and Telemundo ringed the room.

Activity picked up considerably at 8 p.m. as the waiting game entered its final 60-minute stretch. Campaign surrogates like Gavin Newsom, Marco Rubio, Tammy Duckworth and Doug Burgum swung through the spin room, previewing the talking points to come.

The main event began promptly at 9 p.m. A knowing chuckle rippled through the assembled press in the room when Harris approached Trump directly to shake his hand—a stark contrast to the way Trump’s debate with President Joe Biden began in June when both candidates skipped that traditional greeting.

Waves of startled laughter accompanied some of Trump’s more extreme digressions as the debate unfolded, most notably his repetition of baseless internet rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating pets.

Even before the candidates started their closing statements, journalists were migrating to the spin room ready for the deluge of post-debate takes. The Trump surrogates appeared first, with familiar GOP faces like Stephen Miller, Matt Gaetz and Tulsi Gabbard defending his arguments and suggesting that ABC News debate emcees David Muir and Linsey Davis were more aggressive in fact-checking the former president.

Meanwhile, Harris’ supporters—including Ted Lieu, Anthony Scaramucci and Josh Shapiro—praised her defense of her record as vice president and for painting a clearer portrait of what her presidency would look like.

Suddenly, a rumor ran through the crowd that Trump himself had entered the spin room. A giant crowd swarmed around the ABC News stage and, sure enough, the GOP candidate was in the center of the scrum. Trump answered some of the questions that were shouted at him, but without a microphone his responses were difficult to hear. He did make one thing very obvious, though: in his mind, he had won the debate.

Trump and his security detail navigated him over to the Fox News podium, where he granted his first on-camera post-debate interview to Sean Hannity. His daughter-in-law and RNC co-chair Lara Trump was close by doing her own spin room chats and the two exited together after his Fox interview wrapped.

While politicians stayed around to spin well after midnight, the barriers surrounding the National Constitution Center were already being taken down. One lone reporter and cameraperson remained at the site, filing a late night field piece as the City of Brotherly Love prepared to get some shut-eye.