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Well before Tuesday night’s presidential debate was over, Democrats, the media, and Never Trumpers (but I repeat myself) started floating the idea of scrapping the next two debates.

Bursting with fauxtrage, many of them took to social media to complain about how President Trump allegedly made a mockery of the “sacred tradition” of political debates and supposedly did a disservice to the American people, yada yada. Here are just a few examples:

“Should there be other debates?” CNN anchor Anderson Cooper asked. “The vice-presidential debate is next and there’s supposed to be two more debates.”

“I have to say I don’t think the country is going to be yearning for another one of these,” CNN analyst David Axelrod responded. “I think Biden has a decision to make.”

The liberal magazine The Atlantic ran an op-ed with the headline “Cancel the debates.”

Other high-profile Democrats and media figures also weighed in with the suggestion:

Brian Williams to Biden spokeswoman: What's the upside in doing two more debates? Cable news folks pushing this "no more debates" line very hard tonight.

— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) September 30, 2020

No more debates. Stop.

— howardfineman (@howardfineman) September 30, 2020

This is a disgrace, a low point in American debate history. There is no reason, not one, that Joe Biden should participate in another debate.

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) September 30, 2020

No more debates. Because that was not a debate. Biden was great by the way.

— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) September 30, 2020

"No moderator, going forward, is going to be able to control Trump if he acts that way." — @davidplouffe on MSNBC

"If Trump acts that way, we're going to have the same debate."

— Dave Catanese (@davecatanese) September 30, 2020

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1311129560046501893

Yes. Cancel them. The debates are now a danger to public safety and a direct threat to Black life. Cancel the debates. https://t.co/e2OUyjW4Na

— Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) September 30, 2020

No More Debates. No More Debates.
No More Debates. No More Debates.
No More Debates. No More Debates.
No More Debates. No More Debates.
No More Debates. No More Debates.
No More Debates. No More Debates.
No More Debates. No More Debates.
No More Debates. No More Debates.

— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) September 30, 2020

CANCEL THE REMAINING PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES. It is impossible to have an orderly, productive exchange with Donald Trump. Stop pretending otherwise. #Debate2020

— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) September 30, 2020

Yep. George Stephanopoulos wrapped up by telling ABC News' viewers that "many people" on social media were already wondering if they wanted to see "more" debates like this.

— Becca Lower (@BeccaJLower) September 30, 2020

There’s plenty more where that came from, but you get the picture.

I think the reason why they’re demanding the other two debates be canceled is not really because they believe Trump “sullied the integrity” of the debate process or whatever.

Read between the lines here. People who believe their candidate “won” a debate don’t typically go around advocating that they no longer participate in future debates. They relish the thought of the same thing happening at the next debates with their candidate being perceived by the left-leaning political establishment as “the winner.”

While they may not believe Biden lost the debate, what was clear from last night is that they were reminded all over again of what Trump did in the 2016 debates. He bought up issues about his opponent that he knew moderators wouldn’t. He kept on talking and trying to fact check his opponent because he knew the moderator would otherwise give him a pass, as happened numerous times last night.

Yes, he did a lot of interrupting at times but he also got in some good jabs and made some solid points at times despite the fact that he was having to debate two people – Biden and Chris Wallace.

Unlike Republicans in past debates, Trump appears keenly aware that any Republican automatically walks into a debate at a disadvantage – because of the bias of the moderators and how the rules are almost never applied equally to both sides.

Trump didn’t have to win over large swaths of the American electorate last night. He didn’t even have to “win” the debate. All he had to do was plant seeds of doubt about Joe Biden’s character and ability to lead. And that’s what he did, and is likely to continue to do in the next two debates.

The media, Democrats, and Never Trumpers aren’t really talking about canceling future debates in the interests of “civility” and “new tone” and all that. They want them canceled because they’re worried about those seeds of doubt Trump will continue to plant, which they fear will win over just enough people to help Trump win where it counts – in key states where the election will be close.