A reporter urged Donald Trump to “speak louder” after he made a surprise appearance in the media spin room following his debate with Kamala Harris.

The Republican presidential candidate praised his own performance in a noisy room full of reporters: “For me personally, that was the best debate I’ve ever experienced. The polls show that 92 percent, 88 percent…” “Mr. President, speak up,” a reporter interrupted.

He further claimed that early polls showed that “90 percent, 60 percent, 72 percent, 71 percent and 79 percent” of viewers thought he had won the debate. “Where did you get those numbers?” a reporter asked. Trump did not respond.

The moment was captured by Fox News and posted on X, where a version of the clip has now been viewed 2.6 million times.

Newsweek conducted a reader poll in which 66.7 percent of the 8,000 respondents said Harris had won and only 33.2 percent said Trump was the winner. Most Newsweek Many authors also considered it a victory for Harris (nine chose Harris, four spoke of a tie and only one said Trump had won).

Harris put Trump on the defensive on issues of abortion and his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and managed to get him to respond to a comment about the size of crowds at his rallies.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who moderated Trump’s previous debate with President Joe Biden in June, reacted in real time to the former president’s post-debate appearance in the Spin Room while introducing the network’s correspondent.

“I think Donald Trump is in the spin room,” Tapper said on air. “That’s not generally seen as a sign that a candidate thinks he or she had a good night when they go into the spin room to make up for what they just did and create new headlines or maybe make up some answers.”

Newsweek Trump’s campaign team asked for comment outside of business hours.

With “jerk store some answers” you try to provide witty answers after the moment is over, a reference to the character George Costanza in the sitcom Seinfeld who is insulted by a colleague while eating shrimp in a jerk shop and only thinks of a response afterwards in the car.

Although Trump had called the CNN moderator a “fake tapper” in the past, he praised him for moderating the debate with Biden in June, where the Republican described him as “fair but firm.”

Trump’s entrance into the spin room was captured in a photo posted by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who was seen shaking Trump’s hand. Graham said the former president “made the case tonight that America is safer under his administration.”

Despite Graham’s post, MSNBC analyst Tim Miller said he spoke to Graham in the spin room and reported that the senator said Trump’s debate team “should be fired” and that it was a “disaster.”

Newsweek asked Graham for comment via an online form.