A prominent New York Times reporter revealed Wednesday on CNN that close advisors of former President Donald Trump wished he hadn't mentioned a racist conspiracy theory — but were "more concerned" about a separate failed "missed opportunity."
Maggie Haberman joined "The Situation Room" on Wednesday and said Trump likely knows he performed "sub-optimally" at his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. She was not surprised by how easily Trump became provoked.
Haberman told CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer that Trump probably knows he lost the debate given his pushback against any criticism following his widely panned performance Tuesday night. Trump has also declared he won the debate, despite "every objective voice I've seen" agreeing he lost, Haberman said.
"What that means for the campaign and the election is an open question," she said, adding it'll be telling to see if Harris gets a post-debate bump.
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"But Donald Trump had a rough outing. It was arguably the worst debate, and certainly, you know, if you don't think it was the worst, it was the second-worst debate that he has had since he entered the political scene," she added, noting that Trump's debate against President Joe Biden in 2020 could be his single worst performance.
When Blitzer asked Haberman if she was surprised that Trump took Harris' bait on Tuesday — playing a clip of him responding to her attack on his rally crowd sizes — Haberman replied that it "honestly didn't surprise me."
"I thought there was a chance of this given that he has such contempt for her and has made that very clear," she said.
Haberman noted that her success in goading Trump into talking about crowd sizes — instead of the border, which he was asked about — allows Harris to say, '"He is only interested in himself and talking about himself.'"
"It was a lot of missed opportunities, Wolf," she said.
Haberman later added that privately, a number of supporters and advisors wish Trump hadn't repeated a false racist conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants are eating people's pets in Springfield, Ohio.
"It just stands out," said Haberman. "And it's just a moment, again, where a lot of people are paying attention. This is an unfounded claim that he is making to demagogue immigrants."
Haberman said that those advisors are "more concerned, bluntly," that Trump failed to tie Harris to Biden and make her "own" the last 3 1/2 years in the White House.
Watch the clip below or at this link.