Former President Donald Trump has explained his decision not to debate Vice President Kamala Harris for a second time saying that he clearly won their first debate. He used the metaphor of a defeated boxer who immediately demands a rematch to prove that Harris, who has called for a second debate, lost it.
But on Friday's Morning Joe, the exclusively liberal panel tried to turn the tables on Trump, breaking out a string of boxing metaphors to assert that their candidate won the debate instead - and beat Trump badly.
“It seems to me they could have waited a week or two, but he must have been so traumatized by being so badly beaten that he just wanted to get it out of his mind, that he'd ever have to be on stage again with Kamala Harris,” proclaimed co-host Mika Brzezinski.
Co-host Willie Geist also found humor it: “I think the more apt boxing metaphor is that he just got his butt kicked in the third or fourth round, and he's deciding not to come back out for the next round, where Kamala Harris is standing in the middle of the ring saying, ‘let's do it again.’ He wants none of it.”
Former Republican Michael Steele took almost a sick pleasure in the analogies about Trump being physically beaten:
We know he's lying. We know he got -- not just got stung, he got knocked down. And he got knocked down in such a way that he could not get up.
So basically, what you have is the -- to keep this boxing metaphor going, the guy on the mat looking up, with one hand up in the air, trying to get up off the floor, saying, "I don't want anymore. No mas." . . . And so, yeah, he's on the mat looking up from the floor, saying, "I don't want no more." God bless you, Donald, because if you get up, she gonna hit you again.
Geist gave Steele “kudos” for breaking out "no mas," a reference to Roberto Duran's famous phrase from his 1980 fight with Sugar Ray Leonard.
So yes, Morning Joe reveled in awarding the debate round to Harris. But as fans of The Sweet Science know, the winner is the boxer who's still standing at the end of the fight -- and there are many rounds to come.
Here's the transcript:
MSNBC's Morning Joe
9/13/24
6:02 am EDTMIKA BRZEZINSKI: It seems to me that right now, the big story is the fact that he doesn't want to debate again. I'd love to get your thoughts on this. It seems to me they could have waited a week or two, but he must have been so traumatized by being so badly beaten that he just wanted to get it out of his mind, that he'd ever have to be on stage again with Kamala Harris.
WILLIE GEIST: Yeah, I mean, he objectively got blown out of the room at that debate three nights ago. He knows that. His advisors know that. Republicans who support him generally have said that on television. Fox News hosts are saying that. He knows he got creamed.
And so now, he's framing it as the debate was unfair to me. The moderators were too mean. I'm not going to do that again. He doesn't want to get back in the ring with Vice President Kamala Harris. That's the truth.
. . .
DONALD TRUMP: But when a prize fighter loses a fight, you've seen a lot of fights, right? The first words out of that fighter's mouth is, "I wanna rematch. I wanna rematch." And that's what she said, I want a rematch.
Polls clearly show I won the debate against Comrade Kamala Harris . . . So because we've done two debates, and because they were successful, there will be no third debate.
. . .
GEIST: He likes that boxing metaphor about a rematch, somehow framing that as how he won. He doesn't need another one. I think the more apt boxing metaphor is that he just got his butt kicked in the third or fourth round, and he's deciding not to come back out for the next round, where Kamala Harris is standing in the middle of the ring saying, "let's do it again." He wants none of it.
. . .
MICHAEL STEELE: We know he's lying. We know he got -- not just got stung, he got knocked down. And he got knocked down in such a way that he could not get up.
So basically, what you have is the -- to keep this boxing metaphor going, the guy on the mat looking up, with one hand up in the air, trying to get up off the floor, saying, "I don't want anymore. No mas." . . . And so, yeah, he's on the mat looking up from the floor, saying, "I don't want no more." God bless you, Donald, because if you get up, she gonna hit you again.
. . .
GEIST: Kudos to you, Michael Steele, for taking our extended boxing metaphor to the Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard fight with "no mas" in 1980. Very nicely done there.
