Vice President Kamala Harris has declined to debate former President Donald Trump after he agreed to a September 4 debate hosted by Fox News. Instead, Harris is pushing for a September 10 debate hosted by ABC News, a date previously agreed upon by President Biden, who has since exited the race.
“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to, running straight to Fox News to bail him out. He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he committed to on September 10,” Harris Campaign communications director Michael Tyler stated on Saturday.
“The Vice President will be there one way or another to take the opportunity to speak to a prime-time national audience. We’re happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to. Mr. ‘Anytime, anywhere, anyplace’ should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th.”
In a Truth Social post released Friday evening, Trump responded to claims that he is avoiding a debate with Harris by agreeing to a debate. The Harris Campaign had been claiming that Trump was afraid to debate and was looking for a way out over the last several days.
“I have agreed with Fox News to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th,” the former president wrote. “The debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated since Biden will no longer be a participant. I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Stephanopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest.”
Trump is currently suing ABC’s George Stephanopoulos for defamation over false statements he made regarding the E. Jean Carroll case.
“The Fox News debate will be held in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at a site in an area to be determined,” Trump continued. “The moderators of the debate will be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, and the rules will be similar to the rules of my debate with Sleepy Joe, who has been treated horribly by his party — BUT WITH A FULL ARENA AUDIENCE!”
Trump’s proposal features one notable difference from his June debate with President Biden, which was not conducted in front of a live audience. The former president added that his proposal would follow the same procedures as June’s CNN debate, which included a feature that muted each candidate’s microphone when the other was speaking.
The Republican nominee had previously indicated that he would not debate Harris until she had officially secured the nomination, pointing to the Democratic Party’s unprecedented move to oust President Biden last month.
As of Friday, Harris has officially secured the nomination after party delegates approved it in a backroom “roll call.”
