As the old saying goes, even the dogs in the street know he was talking nonsense.
Donald Trump rolled out the long-debunked rumour that Haitian immigrants were eating pet dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio.
The debate moderator, in serious tone, duly interjected that they’d contacted the “city manager” who had played it down.
It felt like comedy (there was laughter in the spin room) until we were reminded this was the serious matter of who would be the next leader of the free world.
Trump v Harris debate: Live updates and reaction
It wasn’t, perhaps, the best performance by the leader of the Republican Party.
Kamala Harris will be content that she asserted an authority and stage presence that rattled Donald Trump – calling him weak, saying that Vladimir Putin would have him for lunch and saying that people left his rallies out of exhaustion and boredom.
It was a confrontation that Donald Trump has seldom experienced – in its aggression, disrespect and withering insult.
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Pic: Reuters
Harris assailed him on his record and personality in a way that he doesn’t face in interview by journalists, neutral or otherwise.
She employed the structured hostility of the trained prosecutor and it unsettled Trump.
He was, nonetheless, robust in his response.
While she styled herself a president for all Americans, he dismissed her as a worst-ever vice president whose time in the White House had been a failure.
He made a best effort to orientate discussion onto subject areas – immigration, the economy – where he was confident he would score, deploying familiar arguments that will resonate with his support base.
Pic: Reuters
Harris was never going to shift that section of the electorate. It is unshakeable through the highs and lows.
She will hope that a confident, assertive performance reaches the middle ground and demonstrates credentials for office and an excuse not to vote Trump.
To win this debate was to leave the viewer believing in one candidate over the other, to emerge with authority and credibility enhanced.
Democrats extolled the Harris performance, while Republicans were insistent that their man carried the day.
Curiously, Donald Trump made an unscheduled appearance in the spin room afterwards and took questions from journalists.
It begged the question: why not let a 90-minute debate performance speak for itself?
It was, perhaps, the action saying a lot of a man who hadn’t said enough.