NEW YORK — Donald Trump on Monday appeared to backtrack on his previous commitment to debate Vice President Kamala Harrisquestioning the value of a meeting and saying that he will “probably” debate, but that he “could also argue not to do so”.
Trump, in an interview with Fox News that aired on Monday night, was pressured several times to commit to debating Harris before giving a weaker response than the one he has given in recent days.
The former Republican president was anxious to debate President Joe Biden when he was the Democratic nominee, after months of suggesting that Biden was not mentally prepared for the showdown — or for the presidency. But after Biden dropped out of the race and Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, Trump has been questioning the terms of the original debate that Biden agreed to. He suggested that the Sept. 10 debate on ABC News should be moved to a different network, calling ABC “fake news.”
Last week, in a phone call with reporters, Trump was asked if he would commit to debating Harris at least once. He replied, “Oh, yes, absolutely. I would like to”, and said that there was an obligation to debate.
In Monday’s interview, host Laura Ingraham repeatedly pressed Trump on whether he would commit to a debate.
“I want to have a debate. But I can also say this. Everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is,” Trump said.
Trump finally said, “The answer is yes, I will probably end up debating.”
He continued for a minute, saying that any debate needs to be held before early voting begins in the states, and then added, “The answer is yes, but I can also argue not to do it.”
Trump has skipped debates before, including all 2024 Republican presidential primary debates. He initially did not participate after suggesting the timing was too early and then questioning another’s location before finally making it clear that he would not participate in any of these debates.
The Republican candidate also sought in Monday’s interview to clarify comments he made last week at a conservative event in which he told an audience of Christians that they “won’t have to vote anymore” after being elected.
He urged Christians, who he claims do not vote in large numbers, to vote “just this once” and said: “You won’t have to do this anymore.”
In four years, he said: “It will work out, everything will be fine. You will no longer have to vote, my beautiful Christians,” he said.
He added moments later: “In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll fix it so well you won’t have to vote.
The comments raised alarm from Democrats and others who noticed Trump’s pattern of using authoritarian language, his past comments that he would only be a dictator on “day one” and his behavior after losing the 2020 presidential elections, in which he refused to accept the results and sought to overthrow them.
His campaign and supporters offered several explanations for Trump’s comments, and Ingraham urged him to explain what he meant.
“They don’t vote and I’m explaining that to them. ‘You never vote.’ This time, vote. I will set the country straight. You will no longer need to vote. I won’t need your vote,” Trump said.
Ingraham asked if he meant that Christians won’t need to vote for him because he will only have four years in office.
Trump began his response by talking about the voting rates of Christians and gun owners, and Ingraham interrupted to ask again.
“Do not worry about the future. Vote, in, you have to vote on November 5th. After that, you no longer have to worry about voting. I don’t care because we’re going to fix ourselves, the country is going to fix itself, and we won’t even need your vote anymore because, frankly, we’ll have a lot of love. If you don’t want to vote anymore, that’s fine,” Trump said.
Trump made similar comments last month at another Christian-centered event, in which he lamented Christian voting rates and implored them to participate in elections.
“In four years you won’t have to vote anymore, okay? In four years, don’t vote. I don’t care,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licón in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
