Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday she wants to stick to the debate the Biden and Trump campaigns agreed to before she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, accusing her opponent of “backtracking.”
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Harris pointed out that Trump had previously agreed to the September confrontation, which was scheduled for Sept. 10 and hosted by ABC News.
“You asked me about the debate and I’m telling you I’m ready to debate Donald Trump,” Harris said.
“I agreed to the debate on September 10th. He agreed to it before. Now he’s backing out, but I’m ready,” Harris asserted.
The vice president said voters deserve “the split screen that exists in this race” on a debate stage. “I’m ready. Let’s go!” she declared.
Vice President Kamala Harris said she has agreed to the previously scheduled September 10 debate against Trump and accused the former president of “backing out”
After President Joe Biden withdrew from the race on Sunday, former President Donald Trump began pushing to have the second debate moved from ABC News to a more conservative-friendly network.
“Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, dropped out of the race, I think the debate with whoever the radical left Democrats choose should be on Fox News instead of the highly biased ABC,” Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday night.
Within 48 hours of Biden dropping out of the race, Harris had secured enough Democratic delegates to become the presumptive nominee.
Donald Trump at his rally in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday, July 24. The former president posted on Truth Social that the debate should take place on Fox News after Biden drops out of the race.
In a call with reporters hosted by the Republican National Committee on Tuesday, Trump said he would “absolutely” debate Harris and even suggested there might be more than one debate.
“I’ll debate her, and she’ll be no different because they have the same policies,” Trump said. “I’d actually be willing to have more than one debate.”
However, Trump said he was not “thrilled” about ABC News being the moderator.
Fox News Channel announced Wednesday that it had contacted both campaigns about hosting a debate.
In a letter, Fox News President Jay Wallace pitched a Sept. 17 debate in the swing state of Pennsylvania, noting that it would take place once early voting began in the state.
He also suggested that hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum could take the lead.
President Biden will debate Trump in Atlanta on June 27. The president’s performance during the debate has led to growing calls to oust him from the Democratic race.
The first presidential debate on June 27, hosted by CNN in Atlanta, is seen as a turning point for Biden, whose disastrous performance on primetime television led to growing concerns about his fitness for a second term.
Several Democratic lawmakers began calling for the president to step aside amid questions about whether he could beat Trump. Less than a month later, Biden dropped out of the race.
