At least we know Trump wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t practice for the debate.

Based on the behavior of trained, professional journalists, I gather I’m not supposed to say what I really thought of the debate, but to cheer like a pom-pom girl for my candidate.

But the truth is, I — along with my Trump-supporting friends — thought it was a draw: Trump won the first half, and Hillary won the second half. Since most people stopped paying attention after the first 30 minutes, that’s a win for Trump.

Hillary supporters, or “the media,” had reason to be happy: She looked healthy! She probably could have kept reciting her snarky little talking points for another hour.

In fact, it was the best I’ve ever seen Hillary. She avoided that honking thing she does, smiled a lot — a little too much, actually (maybe ease up on the pep pills next time) — and, as the entire media has gleefully reported, she managed to “bait” Trump.

Note to the Trump campaign: While it may seem studly that Hillary’s best performance versus Trump’s worst ends in a draw, on Nov. 9, no one wants to say: We almost won — and our guy didn’t prepare!

The media’s excitement over Hillary successfully “baiting” Trump is revealing — of the media, of what this election is really about, and of what Trump needs to do now.

The definition of Trump “taking the bait” was getting him to talk about himself, not about issues. This from a media that claim to be aching for “policy specifics.”

Hillary — with assists from the moderator — “baited” Trump on how rich he is, the loan from his father, a lawsuit in 1972, the birther claims, who he said what to about the Iraq War from 2001 to 2003, and so on.

For the media, their gal was winning whenever precious minutes of a 90-minute debate were spent rehashing allegations about Trump. Ha ha! We prevented Trump from talking about issues that matter to the American people! That was scored as a “win.”