The most important moment of the presidential debate happened behind the scenes

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As Republican “spinners” fussed with reporters under television screens and bright lights backstage at the presidential debate, a strange commotion broke out.

Heated discussions about Donald Trump’s performance in his highly anticipated showdown with Kamala Harris were suddenly interrupted as people began sprinting toward a familiar figure entering the room.

Trump himself – blond hair, navy suit and distinctive red tie – had arrived to take charge.

The story of a heated encounter with his rival was emerging, and headlines were already being written, when he made this unexpected and unusual intervention.

“It was the best debate I’ve ever had,” he insisted, adding that he had a “great evening.”

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He then accused ABC of hosting an “unfair” event, with biased moderators.

Despite his best efforts, the former president’s performance in the debate was interpreted, even by his allies in the American media, as a disgrace.

Ms Harris’s attempts to rile him up with jokes about the size of the crowds at her rallies and her unpopularity with world leaders have worked wonders.

“You’ll see in his rallies he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He’ll talk about how windmills cause cancer,” she said.

“And you’ll also notice that people are starting to leave his meetings earlier than expected, out of exhaustion and boredom.” She said he was “thrown out by 81 million people” in the last election, and that other world leaders considered him a “disgrace.”

In response, Trump butchered his best attack lines, appeared shaken on camera and stammered about migrants eating Americans’ pets in Ohio.

“In Springfield, they eat dogs,” he said.

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Trump’s performance stood in stark contrast to his face-off with Joe Biden in June, where he looked calm and in command compared to the elderly president.

On Tuesday, he became the Trump of his 2016 campaign — getting angry at his opponent and inventing bizarre conspiracy theories to get out of a bind.

In a foreign policy exchange, he retorted that Ms. Harris “hates” Jews and Arabs and that they will all be “destroyed” if she is president.

In another interview, on the subject of health care, he was asked how he would replace the Affordable Care Act. “I have some ideas for a plan,” he replied uneasily, prompting laughter from the press room.

Fox News commentator Brit Hume summed up the general sentiment moments after the debate: “Make no mistake, Trump had a bad night,” he said.

“He took the bait several times when she baited him, something his advisers had surely told him not to do.”

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Those advisers watched, their faces ashen-faced, as Trump was asked again by conservative news anchor Sean Hannity whether he would consider another debate with Harris in the next eight weeks.

“I think maybe I shouldn’t do it,” he replied.

Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s congressional allies, told reporters the event was a “missed opportunity” to expose Ms Harris’ record to voters and attack her over Mr Biden’s handling of the economy.

Vivek Ramaswasmy acknowledged that Harris performed better than the Trump campaign expected, but said the former president scored policy points that would be drowned out by talk of his defeat.

He also touched on some troubling moments for Harris voters, including her reluctance to commit to more than a few major policies.

She has also struggled to distance herself from her unpopular predecessor at the head of the Democratic ticket.

Trump, in a rare moment of strong attack, told cameras: “She’s Biden.”

“I’m not Joe Biden,” she replied. “And I’m certainly not Donald Trump. What I offer is a new generation of leadership.”

But on many of the policy areas she has addressed, nothing distinguishes her from the administration she served for nearly four years.

His opening words, about his plan to “lift up the middle class,” were borrowed from Biden’s campaign speeches, and his responses to questions about the wars in Gaza and Ukraine were messages of continuity, not change. His claims that Trump has a “2025 agenda” were lifted from Biden’s campaign strategy earlier this year.

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As entertaining as Trump and Ms. Harris’ performance was, it would be easy to overestimate the importance of the Philadelphia debate.

Eight weeks before Election Day, polls in the seven key states show that most voters have already made up their minds about the candidates.

Fewer than a million voters will cast ballots in swing districts that could make a difference in the overall outcome, and most of them will not be sidetracked from their political beliefs by a 100-minute debate, failed or not.

The political hysteria of Tuesday night gave way to forced solemnity Wednesday morning, when the two candidates came face to face again at a ceremony in memory of the victims of the September 11 attacks in New York.

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Ms Harris shook her rival’s hand, as she had done in the previous day’s debate, and appeared to thank him repeatedly.

The couple then stood a few yards apart, separated by Mr Biden and Michael Bloomberg, who was elected mayor of the city weeks after the 2001 terrorist attack.

If Trump does not agree to debate Harris again, the memorial service could be the last time they appear together before Election Day.

The prospect of a second debate has been the hot topic of discussion in Washington, where Trump’s poor performance came as a shock.

Republicans, dismayed, are hoping he can make up for lost time in another round with Ms. Harris hosted by Fox News, as Jen O’Malley Dillon, Ms. Harris’ campaign manager, asked the question many in the GOP have been asking.

“Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. What about Donald Trump?”

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