Former President Donald Trump has declared that he will not participate in the ABC News debate set for September 10. Instead, he has suggested an alternative debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, proposing that it be held on Fox News on September 4, according to the New York Times.
Kamala Harris responded to Trump by posting on X, confirming that she will attend the debate on September 10. “It’s interesting how “any time, any place” becomes “one specific time, one specific safe space.” I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there,” Harris wrote on X.
Trump’s announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social, about the change has sparked objections from the Harris campaign and cast doubt on a possible confrontation between the two rivals, according to the New York Times.
This development also coincides with Harris making strides in national polling, suggesting she could pose a more significant challenge to Trump on the debate stage than Biden, who had difficulty delivering a clear message during his weak performance in June. Additionally, Trump and his campaign appear to be adjusting their strategy, shifting from preparing to face Biden to now contending with Harris.
A campaign official for Vice President Kamala Harris has responded to former President Donald Trump’s debate proposal, suggesting that his offer to debate on Fox News is a strategy to distract from his choice to withdraw from the previously scheduled ABC News debate. Trump had initially committed to that debate in May, before Biden exited the race and before Biden’s poor performance in the CNN debate on June 27.
“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Michael Tyler, the communications director for the Harris campaign, remarked in a statement. “He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on September 10.” Tyler stated that the Harris campaign would be open to discussing additional debates if Trump fulfilled his commitment to the ABC debate. “Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th,” he said.
It remains uncertain whether ABC News will proceed with its debate, allowing only Harris to participate. On Saturday, Harris stated in a post on X: “I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.” Trump issued an ultimatum in a response on his social media platform: “I’ll see her on September 4th or, I won’t see her at all.”
In his social media post, Trump announced that the Fox News debate would be held on September 4 at a yet-to-be-determined location in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state. The debate would be moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. Trump mentioned that the debate would feature a live audience, unlike the previous CNN-hosted debate with Biden, which took place in an empty venue. Although both campaigns had agreed on the format for the initial debate, Trump had expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of an audience.
He noted that the rules would be comparable to those of the CNN debate, though he did not detail which specific rules would apply. During the June debate, the candidates’ microphones were muted when it was not their turn to speak to avoid interruptions.
Trump also mentioned that he was “totally prepared to accept” Harris as the new Democratic candidate. He has described her sudden rise to prominence, following Biden’s exit from the race about two weeks ago, as a “coup” within the Democratic Party. In his debate announcement, the former president expressed dissatisfaction with this political upheaval.
“I spent hundreds of millions of dollars, time, and effort fighting Joe, and when I won the debate, they threw a new candidate into the ring,” Trump posted on his social media site on Friday, expressing his intention to link Harris to Biden’s policies.