Former President Donald Trump, 78, said in a Truth Social post Friday that he has agreed to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, in a Fox News-hosted event. Harris seems determined to keep original debate plans with ABC.
“I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th,” said Trump. “The Debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest,” he added, referring to George Stephanopoulos.
Trump said it will be held in Pennsylvania, where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt in mid-July. He also said its moderators will be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, and that there will be a “full arena audience.”
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 said in a Saturday X post referring to the initially scheduled ABC debate.
“A source familiar with the matter told CNN that it was the source’s understanding that ABC News would provide airtime to whichever candidate showed up – even if that ended up being just Harris,” the outlet reported Saturday. “ABC News did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.”
During the first debate in June, there was no arena audience. President Joe Biden, 81, delivered a shaky performance – so rough that calls for him to step down as the Democratic candidate followed, and he eventually did last month. Going into the debate, Trump was leading Biden slightly at the polls.
Now, it looks like Harris will become the Democratic candidate at the party’s convention this month. She is reportedly considering Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate.
Harris’ polling story going into a potential debate is different than Biden’s. As of Saturday, polling data gathered by FiveThirtyEight indicated she was pulling ahead of Trump at 45.1% to 43.6%. In fact, the five latest polls all showed her pulling ahead of the former president.
According to New York Magazine, Harris’ “gains are now a trend, not just a bounce.”
As for Trump, he has already revealed that he doesn’t intend to play “nice” with Harris, and proved it Saturday in a series of Truth Social posts.
“Does anyone notice that Kamala Harris doesn’t do Interviews? That’s because she’s really DUMB! She’s unable to speak properly without a Teleprompter,” said Trump in one post.
Newsweek also noted Friday that Harris hasn’t done “an extended, sit-down interview,” since June 24, before the first presidential debate. It said some Republicans claimed she was hiding.
However, “to some Democratic analysts and talking heads, Harris’ lack of interviews or press conferences suggests an astute media strategy in which she doesn’t want to do anything to take attention away from Trump,” Newsweek added. “The former president and his running mate, JD Vance, have been stumbling on the trail since Biden’s withdrawal from the race, after Trump was credited for running a relatively disciplined campaign focused relentlessly on the president's mental acuity before he dropped out and scrambled the GOP strategy.”
“Crazy Kamala Harris is a LOW I.Q. INDIVIDUAL who cannot compete with the leaders of other countries,” said Trump in another post.
“Kamala Harris doesn’t have the mental capacity to do a REAL Debate against me, scheduled for September 4th in Pennsylvania,” he said in yet another one, adding “I’ll see her on September 4th or, I won’t see her at all.”
Harris’ campaign has argued Trump is afraid to debate her, said CNN. Although he agreed to debate Biden, Trump refused to debate any of the other potential GOP candidates during the presidential primary season.
Harris, who has served as a district attorney, attorney general and senator, has had some standout debate moments in the past. Her “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” line delivered during a 2020 vice presidential debate with Trump’s former running mate, Mike Pence, was just one of multiple memorable lines, per CNN. Earlier, in a debate against Biden before they would join the same ticket, Harris notably stopped him in his tracks with a discussion of bussing and school segregation.