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Former President Donald Trump re-committed to a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC on Sept. 10, after backing out last week.
At a rare press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump added that he would participate in an additional debate on Sept. 25 on NBC, with a “fairly full agreement” in place, and also reiterated his support for a debate on Fox News on Sept. 4. In his remarks, Trump confused the dates for the ABC and NBC debates, though a spokesperson later clarified his comments.
Harris’ campaign previously agreed to ABC’s debate proposal after President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race. But the vice president hasn’t agreed to either the Fox News date, which Trump had previously floated, or the NBC News debate, which Trump suggested for the first time on Thursday.
Trump’s reversal comes as the Republican nominee confronts Harris’ rising poll numbers and has privately expressed frustration with the status of his campaign in the wake of Harris’ ascension to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket. Trump’s comments appear to increase the odds that Harris and Trump will face each other on the debate stage before voters go to the polls this fall.
Trump said Thursday that his campaign had spoken with the heads of ABC, NBC, and Fox News, with whom the details of each debate had been settled except for whether an audience will be present and where each face-off will take place. He said the Harris campaign still has to agree to the proposals, though a Harris spokesperson last week said in reference to the ABC debate: “Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th.”
ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis were set to moderate the Sept. 10 debate when the initial agreement was reached between the Trump and Biden campaigns earlier this summer. Trump previously expressed support for the Fox News debate to be held in the swing state of Pennsylvania and be moderated by Fox anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
Trump said he was seeking the debates to “set the record straight” about Harris, who he painted as too liberal and stage-controlled, accusing her of avoiding media interviews and promoting harmful policies on the border and the economy.
And he also suggested that his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, would participate in a vice presidential debate on CBS. The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Natalie Allison contributed to this report.
