Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will debate Vice President Kamala Harris “in the very near future” and didn’t explicitly rule out a face-off hosted by ABC News—marking Trump’s firmest commitment to debating Harris after indicating he wouldn’t move forward with a planned debate on ABC.
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a campaign rally ... [+]
Trump said Wednesday on Fox & Friends the date of a debate will “be announced fairly soon, but we’ll be debating her,” while repeating his push for Fox News to host the program (it’s not clear if Trump and Harris’ campaigns have agreed to a debate yet).
Trump said over the weekend his agreement to participate in the ABC debate previously scheduled for Sept. 10 between Trump and President Joe Biden had been “terminated,” citing his defamation lawsuit against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos and Biden’s exit from the race.
Trump blasted Harris in the interview Wednesday, telling Fox & Friends he’s “heard” she is “sort of a nasty person, but not a good . . . debater,” adding that he believes Harris will “be exposed, just like Biden was exposed” during the debate.
Trump, discussing the various networks, said “the most important thing is we get to debate,” adding that he “would like to see it on Fox,” but stopping short of saying he wouldn’t debate on another network.
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Fox News offered to host a debate between Harris and Trump on Sept. 17, a week after the scheduled ABC News debate. Harris has said she will show up for the ABC News debate with or without Trump there.
When the vice presidential debates between Trump running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will be held. Walz said Tuesday in his first rally since he joined Harris’ ticket that he “can’t wait” to debate Vance, calling him “creepy” and “weird.”
Trump, over the weekend, said he had agreed to participate in a Sept. 4 debate on Fox News somewhere in Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, the former president claimed Harris is “afraid” to debate him on Fox News, using his new deliberate “Kamabla” misspelling of her first name. Trump also lashed out against ABC News Tuesday, calling the network “fake” and accusing Stephanopoulos of favoring Biden in the interview he conducted with the president after his disastrous June 27 debate on Fox News.
The Harris campaign on Saturday accused Trump of “running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out.”
Trump Backs Out Of Debate And Proposes Another On Fox News—Harris Claims He's 'Running Scared' (Forbes)
Trump Claims Harris Is Afraid To Face Him On Fox News After He Backed Out Of ABC Debate (Forbes)
Fox News Proposes Sept. 17 Trump-Harris Debate—After Trump Suggests Network Host Next Face-Off (Forbes)