Vice President Kamala Harris rejected an offer from her Republican opponent Donald Trump to debate her before a live audience on Fox News, saying he would stick to a previously scheduled date at ABC News.
The former president and 2024 Republican candidate began the latest round of verbal exchanges on Friday night with a social media post in which he said that had “agreed with Fox News” to debate Harris on September 4 in Pennsylvania.
Harris’ campaign responded that Trump “is trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to” and that She “will be there in one form or another” on ABC on Sept. 10, a showdown agreed to by Trump and Joe Biden before the president ended his reelection bid.
The moves raise the possibility that American voters may not see a debate between the two leading candidates before the Nov. 5 general election. Instead, Trump and Harris could end up holding televised town-hall-style events.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the previous agreement expired with Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race.He also cited a conflict of interest, saying he is in litigation with ABC and anchor George Stephanopoulos.
Harris “will be there in one form or another” with ABC on Sept. 10, Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement Saturday. “We are happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to,” he said.
Trump agreed to participate in the debate two months after filing a lawsuit against ABC Newsaccording to a person familiar with the matter. David Muir and Linsey Davis, not Stephanopoulos, are the proposed presenters for the debate.
Trump said the Sept. 4 date “is convenient and appropriate because it is right before” the start of early voting in some states on Sept. 6. The first Biden-Trump debate in June produced a disastrous performance from the president that ultimately led him to end his reelection bid and endorse Harris in July.
Trump and his campaign previously refused to commit to further debates, saying those plans could not be formalized until Democrats officially chose his replacement for Biden.
The Democratic National Committee said Friday that Harris had secured enough delegates in the party’s virtual roll call vote to secure the nomination. Voting ends Monday.
