ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The narrative after June's presidential debate was more about President Biden's shortcomings than how former President Trump performed. Before last night's debate, Republicans had high hopes that Trump's faceoff against Vice President Harris would also boost his campaign. NPR's Stephen Fowler visited a GOP watch party in Atlanta's suburbs to see how he did.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: About 500 people, and several taxidermy deer heads, filled the ballroom at Adventure Outdoors, the self-proclaimed world's largest gun store and a staple event venue for Georgia Republicans.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I want to hear some noise for President Trump.
(CHEERING)
FOWLER: Fueled by a bar, barbecue and fellow Trump supporters, the mood before the debate was one of cautious optimism that, after the first debate effectively ended President Biden's reelection bid, this one would also be a big boost for the former president.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Do you think he's going to have some facial expressions or he's going to say something? What do you think's going to be the - is it going to be a stink eye? What's he going to do?
FOWLER: As Trump and Vice President Harris walked onstage and shook hands, Kitty Bray and some friends settled in with a little bit, and only a little bit, of nerves about how Trump would do.
KITTY BRAY: I think he knows what's at stake here, and I think he's going to stay right on what he needs to talk about. He needs to talk about inflation, immigration, you know, again, the economy. He knows what he's doing.
FOWLER: The nearly two-hour debate didn't have an in-person audience, but the Adventure Outdoors crowd made up for it with their reactions.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DAVID MUIR: So let's now welcome the candidates to the stage - Vice President Kamala Harris and President Donald Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
FOWLER: Unsurprisingly, there were plenty of cheers, like when Trump said Harris had no plan to boost the economy, accusing her of just copying President Biden's plan.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: Four sentences, like "Run, Spot, Run."
(LAUGHTER)
FOWLER: And there were jeers against the two ABC moderators and Harris throughout the night, like when she brought up Trump's criminal convictions.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: This is so rich, coming from someone who has been prosecuted for...
(BOOING)
HARRIS: ...National security crimes, economic crimes, election interference, has been found liable for sexual assault.
FOWLER: Trump spoke more than Harris and was fact-checked by the moderator several times. Some of the people I talked to say, without evidence, that Harris was fed the questions in advance, a falsity Trump himself has repeated. Standing with Kitty Bray in the last commercial break, Lisa Barnhart expressed frustration with the ABC hosts and with Harris for needling Trump.
LISA BARNHART: She's trying to get under his skin, and I think he's doing a great job, but she's being ugly.
FOWLER: At the end of the debate, Bray said Trump did a great job talking about topics that matter to voters.
BRAY: The immigration, the inflation, you know, the basics that we've all said - the war, potential of war. I think his closing remark just hit the nail on the head. You have been there for 3 1/2 years, why haven't you done this?
FOWLER: People like Barnhart and Bray don't need to be convinced to show up and vote this fall. They're firmly in Trump's camp and motivated to get other people to the polls because the stakes are high. For Harris and Trump, Georgia has become a must-win state, and on that, there's little debate.
Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Smyrna, Ga. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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