The 2024 presidential campaign has already featured a series of unprecedented moments. You can add the debates to that list, as it’s still unclear whether Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris will ever face off in a formal debate.
In fact, each candidate has so far agreed to watch a different showdown.
Trump had previously agreed to debate President Biden on September 10, with ABC News as host. But once Harris emerged as Biden’s replacement, Trump became evasive about the ABC News event. And Trump announced on Friday that the deal “has been terminated,” citing Biden’s withdrawal as the reason.
Trump said he would accept a counteroffer from Fox News for a September 4 debate. Although the details had not yet been worked out, Trump declared that there would be “A FULL AUDIENCE IN THE ARENA!”
Harris, for her part, has publicly pressured Trump to meet her on stage for the ABC News debate since entering the race, even daring her opponent to “say it to my face” at a rally.
This is where things stand.
Biden and Trump ignore debate traditions
In every presidential election since 1988, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has planned the debates, allowing the events to be broadcast simultaneously on major television networks and radio stations. The commission planned its traditional three presidential and one vice-presidential debates for September and October, with universities prepared to host each.
But both Biden and Trump refused to let the commission take over this year, leaving it with an uncertain future. Instead, they would agree to their own rules and have two debates organized directly by the television networks: one by CNN and the other by ABC News.
The CNN debate took place earlier this summer and featured Biden repeatedly losing his train of thought. Democrats began to pressure him to drop out of the race and he eventually did so, with Vice President Harris easily securing the necessary delegates to secure the nomination.
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The ABC News debate
Trump and Biden were scheduled to face off for a second time on September 10, with ABC News hosting the event.
But in addition to changing his tone since Harris’ entry, Trump intensified his attacks on the Disney-owned chain after Biden dropped out of the presidential race. “Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network,” Trump told ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott at a convention of black journalists earlier this week.
As his reason for withdrawing from the ABC News debate, Trump points to his defamation lawsuit against ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos, even though he filed the lawsuit in March, before agreeing to the debate with Biden, and Stephanopoulos is not one of the moderators of the debate.
An ABC source told CNN on Friday which is still “full steam ahead” with its debate plans. The event will be moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis.
“The vice president will be there in one way or another to take advantage of the opportunity to speak to a national audience in prime time,” Harris’ campaign said Saturday about the ABC News event. “We are happy to discuss new debates after the one to which both campaigns have already agreed.”
The Fox plan
When Biden dropped out of the race, other networks saw it as a new opportunity to relaunch campaigns about organizing a debate.
Fox News released a public letter to the Harris and Trump campaigns proposing a September 17 debate in Pennsylvania, moderated by political anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
The letter appeared to acknowledge concerns Democrats might have about appearing on the conservative network, whose primetime programming features a series of attacks against its candidates.
“As you recall, despite there not being a Democratic debate in 2016/2020, Fox News was able to secure town halls with Democratic candidates,” the letter said. “We are open to discussion about the exact date, format and location – with or without an audience,” he offered.
Trump’s debate announcement featured the same hosts and location as Fox News’ original proposal, even though September 4 is nearly two weeks earlier. The GOP candidate said if Harris didn’t show, he would attend a “big town hall” with Fox News.
Someone will break the impasse
As of now, the 2024 presidential race has two more debates underway — but neither features both candidates. For the candidates to meet at one of these events, one of them will have to yield to the other, which carries its own set of political calculations.
It is possible that another network will emerge as a compromise between the two candidates. CNN reported that NBC News is “in ongoing discussions with the campaigns,” but it is unclear what type of event might be in discussion.
Additionally, before Biden left the presidential race, Harris agreed to a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News. There was no date set for the event. Harris is expected to announce her vice presidential candidate soon. It remains to be seen whether this person can face Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance in a debate.
There is another very plausible scenario for Harris and Trump: they never meet on stage and
Americans go to the polls in November having never seen the two main presidential candidates face off for the first time since 1972.
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ABC News is still ‘full steam ahead’ with the presidential debate despite Trump backtracking on commitment. “The network plan could still be overturned like so many other institutions and traditions this year.” [CNN]
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Harris claims Trump is ‘scared’ of Fox News after dropping out of ABC debate. “Running straight to Fox News to rescue him.” [Independent]
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Trump’s defamation lawsuit against ABC’s George Stephanopoulos can move forward, judge rules. “A Florida judge rejected ABC’s motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit.” [Fox News]
