Trump is already making up an excuse for Vance’s defeat in the vice presidential debate

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Donald Trump is already thinking of an excuse why JD Vance might lose the vice presidential debate to Tim Walz.

Published on Fox Nation On Monday, the Republican presidential candidate baselessly claimed to his former 2016 campaign manager Kellyanne Conway that the showdown against his running mate was already “rigged” — and claimed that he would also “like to have two or three more debates” against Kamala Harris , but won Not for that reason.

“I would like to have two or three more debates, I like it, I enjoyed it,” Trump told Conway, his former adviser.

“But they’re so rigged and so stacked. You’ll see it at JD tomorrow, it’ll be stacked.”

It’s a line Trump has taken repeatedly since his Sept. 10 presidential debate against Harris — and Trump now appears to be laying the groundwork for Vance to make the same appeal if Walz emerges victorious.

Without elaborating or explaining his reasoning for the claims, Trump then resorted to personal attacks on the Minnesota governor.

“He’s running against an idiot, a total idiot,” he said. “The way she chose him is unbelievable. I think that’s a big factor. There’s something wrong with that guy. He is sick.”

Critics, allies and viewers all agreed that Trump performed poorly in his debate against Harris.

Longtime GOP pollster Frank Luntz said at the time that it was “very close” to the worst debate performance he had ever seen.

“It was a pretty negative performance – pretty pessimistic, cynical, contemptuous,” Luntz continued Piers Morgan uncensored. “And I think it’s going to cost him.”

That night, Trump took the unusual step of appearing on the spin room floor immediately after the hearing concluded and complaining to reporters that he had been “rigged” against him.

Since then, Trump has accused ABC anchors of vetting him and criticized the network.

After heated arguments during the campaign, tonight will be the first time that Walz and Vance will face each other in this presidential election. While vice presidential debates are generally not viewed as electorally consequential, tonight could be different.

According to a survey by Prolific, about 75 percent of Americans plan to watch the debate The Independentwhile two-thirds of Democrats believe the vice presidential nominee has a significant impact on the overall presidential nomination.

Six former vice presidents became president while 19 ran for the top spot, meaning tonight’s debate could well produce a future presidential candidate.

The latest pipeline success story from vice president to president is President Joe Biden, who maintained a close public relationship with Barack Obama during the two terms he served as his right-hand man.

Viewers can watch the debate tonight at 9 p.m. ET on CBS News, its affiliates, the network’s app, CBSNews.com, Paramount+ and YouTube.