Donald Trump, Kamala Harris agree to presidential debate on ABC next month
Trump had backed out of a previously scheduled debate on ABC scheduled for Sept. 10.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have agreed to appear at a previously scheduled presidential debate on ABC on Sept. 10, the network confirmed Thursday.
Trump had backed out of a debate with Harris on Sept. 10, one that originally was to have been against President Joe Biden before he withdrew his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. The location of the now-back-on debate remains to be determined.
During a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, Trump proposed three debates with Harris in September. In addition to the one on ABC, he proposed one for Sept. 4 on Fox News in Pennsylvania and Sept. 25 on NBC.
“I think it’s very important to have debates,” Trump told reporters.
Following a campaign event with auto workers in Michigan, Vice President Kamala Harris said she’s “glad” Trump agreed to debate and said she would schedule her first major interview as the party’s nominee before September.
Harris took questions from the traveling pool after Trump held a long-winded and falsehood-filled news conference earlier in the day, accusing her of dodging reporters’ questions. Harris said she’d be open to more debates, as Trump has asked for. Asked why the former president originally backed out, she told the pool: “I am beyond trying to speculate about how he thinks.”
Trump also mentioned a potential vice presidential debate between his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio), and Harris’ VP pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Watz, that would air on CBS, though it’s unclear if either the network or the Harris campaign are part of the proposal.
A vice presidential debate had been scheduled to take place at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., on Sept. 25, but the event was canceled.
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Trump is suing both ABC News and George Stephanopoulos after the longtime anchor said a jury concluded Trump “raped” E. Jean Carroll. That Manhattan jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse but not rape, which has a specific legal definition in New York.
Trump suggested on Fox & Friends Wednesday that lawsuit wouldn’t prevent him from appearing on ABC to debate Harris, since the moderators would be World News Tonight anchor David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis.
“It’s up to me, obviously,” Trump said. “I think debates are very important, and I think she’ll be exposed like Biden was exposed.”