“This is What Defeat Looks Like”: Trump Advocates Deflated After Debate Performance

Reporting from Philadelphia, MSNBC contributor John Heilemann shared his observations from the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump. Speaking on Morning Joe, Heilemann described the post-debate scene in the “spin room” as gloomy, with Trump advocates struggling to defend what one Fox News personality labeled a “trainwreck.”

Heilemann explained to hosts Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough, and Willie Geist how poorly Trump had performed, even humorously recounting a tactic used by political consultants. “Joe talked to me before about how you watch something, and an old political consultant’s trick is to watch the debate with the sound off. You get a lot from the visuals, and that was definitely the case last night,” Heilemann said.

He went on to describe the dispirited atmosphere among Trump supporters in the spin room, emphasizing their collective disappointment. “I’ll tell you what else you can watch with the sound off: the activity in the spin room. The Trump forces were dejected, defeated, deflated, dispirited,” he noted.

Heilemann further explained that a photo he posted of Florida Republican Matt Gaetz and Trump adviser Stephen Miller, taken just minutes before Trump entered the room, went viral on social media. “It looked sort of like saggy road,” he remarked, highlighting the lackluster mood surrounding Trump’s supporters.

Jokingly, Heilemann added, “This is what defeat looks like, folks. These people have been talking about Donald Trump before the debate like he is Muhammad Ali, the greatest debater. There will be surprises, [Trump adviser] Jason Miller said. ‘She won’t know what hit her.'”

However, Heilemann suggested that Trump’s team did not anticipate the outcome, concluding with a light-hearted quip: “They looked like they had their dogs and cats eaten over the course of that debate,” drawing laughter from the hosts.