Trump calls ABC debate ‘rigged’

Former President Donald Trump ripped ABC News for the way the network conducted the debate, calling it a “rigged deal.”

“It was three to one. It was a rigged deal, as I assumed it would be,” Mr. Trump said during a call into “Fox & Friends” Wednesday.

He said ABC for only fact-checking him and not Vice President Kamala Harris, and called the network “the most dishonest news organization.”

“A lot of people are very angry about it. You know, you have corrupt news organizations. You have a lot of bad people. It’s amazing,” Mr. Trump said.

He said he thinks ABC “took a big hit last night.”

“To be honest, they’re a news organization. They have to be licensed to do it,” he said of news networks. “They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.”

He was particularly annoyed about the moderators not saying anything when Ms. Harris said he was involved in Project 2025, that he doesn’t support in-vitro fertilization protection and his claim of a “bloodbath” if he loses the November election, which he says was referring to the economy.

Mr. Trump said he thought it was his “best debate.”

He claimed some polls showed that he won the debate last night by a landslide, but a CNN flash poll found that 63% of debate watchers said Ms. Harris did better, while 37% said Mr. Trump had a better performance.

The Harris campaign called for a second debate Tuesday night shortly after the debate ended.

“Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face this fall at the ballot box: between moving forward with Kamala Harris, or going backward with Trump. That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see at a second debate in October. Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?” a campaign email said.

The former president did not rule out another presidential debate before November.

“I am not inclined to do it because I won the debate by a lot,” he said. “But I think we let it settle, and let’s see what happens.”