Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Donald Trump has denied claims he was ever at last night’s Presidential debate in New York, in a stinging rebuke to journalists’ continued probing.

In an interview directly after the debate, Mr Trump rejected the idea that he was on the stage just minutes before. “It’s a lie. An outright lie. But that’s what we’ve come to expect from Hillary Clinton,” he said.

When one journalist asked Mr Trump to clarify his assertion in the debate that he had paid no tax in the past, the billionaire responded, “Well of course I didn’t say that. How could I? I wasn’t there. I never said that climate change was a Chinese conspiracy either, just in case you were going to ask that”.

Trump’s office later released a statement confirming that their candidate played no part in the debate. “These are just lies. If you believe you saw Donald Trump in the debate, you have mis-seen it”. They said Hillary was not at the debate either, but rather her body double.