The Slatest

Can Trump Resist Showing Up in the Post-Debate Spin Room?

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets reporters in the spin room following a debate sponsored by Fox News at the Fox Theatre on March 3 in Detroit.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK—It would be untraditional for a presidential nominee to come to the “spin room” on behalf of himself following a presidential debate. But can Donald Trump resist?

The spin room, adjacent to the media filing center, is where surrogates come to lie to reporters about how their candidate blew the other out of the water. Again, this is usually left to surrogates. For example: Boxing promoter Don King, former basketball coach Bobby Knight, and former Apprentice star Omarosa were all making the rounds in the media center this afternoon on behalf of Trump.

But spin room murmurs around the early evening was that Trump himself was planning on coming after the debate to speak personally about how well he performed.

“They’re more than just murmurs,” said Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham. Graham says he heard directly from Arizona state treasurer Jeff DeWitt—who doubles as the Trump campaign’s chief operating officer—that that’s the plan.

So if 90 minutes of uncut Trump debate action isn’t enough for you, several hours of Trump’s post-debate commentary about himself may be in the offing too. Trump spinning Trump’s performance in the debate is the grim metaphor this election did not need.

Read more Slate coverage of the 2016 campaign.