Donald Trump bombed his first debate against Kamala Harris by a virtually unanimous consensus in the media. But in one bar in Manhattan, he had a hometown advantage. As the debate got going and Trump alternated between taking Harris’s bait about crowd sizes and half-heartedly trotting out his greatest culture-war hits, his rhetoric around abortion and immigrants was met with rapturous applause from well over 100 of his most fervent supporters in the five boroughs, who packed into a watch party hosted by the New York Young Republican Club. As the night wore on, though, the crowd paid less attention to the debate and more to one another — and the sports-betting apps on their phones. By the time closing statements rolled around, hardly anyone was watching; even Trump’s final words were lost in a sea of chitchat. Once it was over, multiple attendees could be heard grudgingly admitting that Harris had held her own. Here’s what it looked and sounded like.

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