ABC News shut down a conspiracy theory peddled by MAGA surrogates to explain former President Donald Trump’s widely panned debate performance earlier this week.
Unable to accept the potential that Kamala Harris had won the debate, Trump surrogates and allies concocted a deluge of conspiracy theories, suggesting that the Vice President had received early access to debate questions and accusing her of wearing “Bluetooth earrings.”
However, a spokesperson for the network categorically denied the allegations that questions had been fed to the Harris campaign in a statement to the The Daily Beast on Friday.
“Absolutely not,” the spokesperson said. “Harris was not given any questions before the debate.”
The conspiracy, pushed by right-wing social media social media users, seems to be an attempt to re-litigate the 2016 debate, where some potential questions were passed along to the Hilary Clinton campaign ahead of a CNN debate. Trump himself vented to Fox & Friends after the debate that Harris seemed “awfully familiar with the questions.”
Trump has spent the days since his lackluster performance attacking debate moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir and claiming victory in the debate. The former president has said that he wouldn’t agree to another face-off with Harris.
The Harris campaign set aside at least five days for debate prep, including bringing in Democratic strategist Philippe Reines as a stand-in for Trump in mock debates, a strategy that polls suggested paid off. In a post-debate poll from CNN, nearly two-thirds of those who tuned in said Harris had won.
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