donald trump says he would be willing to debate Kamala Harris in the friendly environments of Fox News in September – but the vice president did not sign what would be a change.
Trump had already agreed to appear on ABC News and debate Joe Biden a second time this year, before the president ends his re-election campaign.
In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the debate would be held on September 4 in Pennsylvania. The former president said there was a conflict of interest at play after filing a defamation lawsuit against ABC and host George Stephanopoulos over the anchor’s claim that Trump had been “found responsible for rape” in the E Jean Carroll case.
Earlier this year, Trump was ordered to pay $83 million for defamatory statements he made about the magazine’s columnist, after a previous case found him liable for defamation and sexual abuse.
“The debate was previously scheduled against…Biden on ABC, but has been terminated because Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest,” Trump wrote.
The former Republican president added that the location of the debate on Fox News – which usually hosts the Republican Party – has not been determined. But he said the moderators would be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum of Fox News, and the rules would be similar to those for his June 27 debate with Biden — except this time there would be a studio audience.
But on Saturday, in a statement that invoked Trump’s previous challenge to debate Biden at any time or place, HarrisThe 2011 campaign made it clear that it did not agree with the terms of the debate proposed by Fox News – and particularly rejected using it to replace the ABC debate.
“Donald Trump is scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to rescue him,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement. shared on X by NBC News political correspondent Yamiche Alcindor.
“He needs to stop playing and attend the debate he has already committed to in the [10 September]. The vice president will be present in one way or another to take advantage of the opportunity to speak to a national audience in prime time. We will be happy to discuss further debates after the one to which both campaigns have already agreed.
“Anytime, anywhere, anywhere sir should have no problem with this unless you are too scared to show up on the 10th.”
On a publish at X, Harris herself added, “It’s interesting how any time, any place’ becomes ‘a specific moment, a specific safe space.’”
The vice president said in July that she was “ready” to debate Trump and accused him of backing down on the previous agreement involving ABC.
In a post on Saturday, Trump claimed that Harris was “afraid” to “have a REAL debate” against him. He added: “I will see [Harris] on September 4th or I won’t see you.”
Democratic Party Alarm in BidenJohn’s performance in the June debate on CNN triggered his dramatic withdrawal from the race, with polls indicating he was likely headed for a landslide electoral defeat.
Trump and Harris are now voting side by side.
The political dance around the presidential debates is now about to escalate. Earlier this year, Biden and Trump agreed to avoid the typical three-debate arrangement typically held in the fall and organized by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
Democrats said reducing the number to two and moving them to June and September reflected changes in “the structure of our elections and the interests of voters.”
Biden said he won two debates with Trump in 2020 and challenged him to two this year. “I heard you’re free on Wednesdays,” Biden said, referring to a weekly day off during the New York criminal trial that saw Trump convicted of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to the adult film actor Stormy Daniels.
But the move backfired on Biden.
The latest twist in the 2024 debate drama comes after Trump said he would not face Harris because she was not the party’s official nominee. On Friday, Harris secured enough Biden delegates to officially become her party’s nominee.
At a rally in Atlanta on Tuesday, Harris said she welcomed a debate against Trump, who days earlier had called her a “slut.”
“As the saying goes, if you have something to say, say it to my face,” Harris said.
