The fallout from the ABC News debate with Vice-President Kamala Harris and convicted felon Donald Trump continues to produce lesions in the body politic. Mostly in the form of whining by Trump, despite the fact that he insists that he won, which is contrary to post-debate polling.

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In the two short weeks following the debate, the positive impact for Harris is inarguable. Her fundraising, which was already remarkable by recent standards, continues to set records. And polls have shown her surging into leads nationally and in the critical swing states, a development that has Trump sinking into severe psychosis…

SEE THIS: Trump is Suffering From a Severe Case of Self-Deception on a Level Never Seen Before

For someone who wants the world to believe that he emerged from the face-off as the undisputed victor, Trump sure complains a lot. He has spent the past couple of weeks attacking the debate moderators as biased, and making ludicrous accusations that Harris was given the questions (and answers) beforehand and that she wore a communications device disguised as an earring. None of which contained even a speck of truth.

Building on those lies, Trump gave an interview to MAGA friendly Fox News flunky, Brian Kilmeade, wherein he elaborated on his psychobabble. But his remarks transcended his familiar mutterings of bias, devolving into open authoritarian threats…

Kilmeade: A Democratic pollster is calling for an investigation of ABC and the moderators. He wants communications pulled to see if they were talking to each other because of the fact-check on you and not on them, and the questions and topics. Do you join in those questions?
Trump: Sure, I do. I think they should be investigated. And you know, they have to get a license from the federal government.

Trump on ABC News: I think they should be investigated.. they have to get a license from the federal government. pic.twitter.com/dIiPuMtvrv

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 22, 2024

First of all, the alleged Democratic pollster Kilmeade mentioned was the notoriously right-wing former Democrat, Mark Penn. And neither he, nor Trump, nor Fox News have any justification for, or authority to demand internal communications from ABC News.

More ominous, however, is Trump’s response wherein he makes an overt threat to revoke the broadcast license of ABC News. That’s the sort of totalitarian abuse of power that is practiced by Trump’s idols, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un. And it’s how Trump promises govern if he were to return to power. It’s also consistent with his longstanding hatred of the free press that he refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.”

Trump, and Fox News, assert that ABC demonstrated bias by daring to fact-check Trump during the debate, but not Harris. However, it isn’t her fault that Trump lied more than 30 times, while she stuck to truth. And if demonstrating bias was the crime that Trump and Fox is so concerned about, they might want to take a look in the mirror. Fox “News” has been nothing but a bald-faced, and shamelessly dishonest, right-wing propaganda outfit from its inception.

What’s more, Trump grossly exaggerated (as usual) the incidence of fact-checks, saying that he was checked “nine or 11 different times about things that I was right on virtually every case.” And while they could have legitimately fact-checked him 30 times, it was actually only four, for which he was clearly wrong. The moderators politely corrected Trump on the following subjects…

• Abortion: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”
• Migrant Pet Cuisine: “[There were] no credible reports of pets or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.”
• Crime: “As you know, the FBI says that overall violent crime is actually coming down in this country.”
• The 2020 Election: “60 cases in front of many judges, many of them Republican, looked at it and said there was no widespread fraud.”

That was every fact-check of Trump that occurred during the debate. And everyone one of them was appropriate and fair and handled with dignity and an intent to inform voters. And despite his lie-riddled, angry, and often incoherent performance, Trump still says that…

“I thought it was a great debate for me. I thought it was one of my best debates that I’ve ever had. And some people disagree, but I thought it was the strongest debate I ever had.”

If the debate that Trump lost so badly to Kamala Harris was "the strongest debate [he] ever had," no wonder he's so freakin' afraid to debate her again.

He's actually right to chicken out. It would stupid for him to subject himself to another humiliation like that. https://t.co/1I4VSxqdrm

— News Corpse (@NewsCorpse) September 22, 2024

Well, if that was “the strongest debate [he] ever had,” then why is he so afraid to take the stage with Harris one more time before Election Day? Does he really want that embarrassing display to be the last thing that millions of Americans see before they vote? Or is he just too scared that he will get pummeled again if he agrees to another match?

Harris’ challenge to Trump to have another debate is brilliant. It’s a lose-lose scenario for Trump. If he agrees, he is likely to get another beatdown. If he declines, he’s affirming his fear. So the question for Trump is whether he is more worried about being seen as a loser or a chicken. Although it may be too late for him on both counts.

RELATED STORIES:

• Trump Rants Hysterically that Women are ‘Poor’ and ‘Depressed’ But that He Will Fix Everything
• Trump’s New Campaign Slogan Inspired By His Angry Debate Act: ‘There’s Nothing to Smile About’
• Putting Trump’s Polling Delusions in Perspective – It’s Even Worse than He Thinks

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