Republican presidential candidate, former US President Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris.
Andrew Kelly | Evelyn Hochstein | Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Saturday accused Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of refusing to agree to a debate scheduled for September 10 hosted by ABC News and instead trying to pressure her , demanding she sit down for an earlier debate on the Trump-friendly Fox News station.
Trump announced on “Truth Social” on Friday that he has agreed to allow Fox News to hold a debate with de facto Democratic presidential candidate Harris on September 4, with Fox News hosts and the entire audience in attendance.
“Donald Trump got scared, tried to withdraw from a debate he had agreed to, and ran directly to Fox News to bail him out,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Taylor said in a statement Saturday.
Trump said the ongoing lawsuit with ABC News created a “conflict of interest.” Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“He needs to stop playing games and participate in the debate that he has committed to on September 10. The vice president will be there in some way and use the opportunity to address a prime-time national audience,” Taylor said.
The Trump campaign responded to the statement, accusing the Harris campaign of cowardice.
“Sounds like @KamalaHarris and @KamalaHQ are too timid – to accept the earlier debate,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung wrote on X on Saturday.
President Biden and President Trump agreed in May to hold two debates on mutually acceptable terms, one hosted by CNN on June 27 and the second hosted by ABC News on September 10. Even though Biden dropped out of the race due to a poor debate performance in June, the Harris campaign insists the terms of the May deal remain in place.
Days after Biden withdrew and endorsed Harris, Trump said he was willing to debate the vice president multiple times. As Harris rises in the polls and racks up record fundraising, Trump has repeatedly walked back her original May deal and scoffed at the idea of skipping the debate entirely.
The Harris campaign said the vice president will attend the September 10 debate regardless of whether Trump attends.
“What’s interesting is that ‘any time, any place’ became ‘a specific time, a specific safe space,’” Harris wrote in an X post on Saturday, doubling down on the emphasis. “I will be there on September 10, just as he agreed. I hope to see him there.”
Taylor added that the campaign would be open to further debates after the two finish their ABC News debate: “Any time, any place, any place, Mr. No. appeared.
