Author: Jeff Mason and Nathan Lane
DETROIT (Reuters) – U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic rival Kamala Harris are set to debate on ABC on September 10 in what will be a debate between the two rivals ’s first face-to-face matchup, polls show it to be an extremely close race.
During a rambling news conference at his residence in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said he hoped to hold more debates on September 4 and September 25, which will be broadcast on Fox and NBC .
Harris posted on X that she was looking forward to the September 10 debate after Trump “finally made a commitment.” She told reporters after a campaign event in Detroit that she was open to discussing more debates.
Trump has previously said he may withdraw from the ABC debate, which was scheduled less than three weeks ago before Vice President Harris replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, upending the debate. campaign.
An Ipsos poll released on Thursday showed Harris’ lead over Trump has widened since late July. A Reuters/Ipsos poll from July 22 to 23 showed her leading Trump by 37% to 34%, compared with her 42% to 37% approval rating.
The news conference was Trump’s first public appearance since Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday.
Harris and Walz held rallies this week in battleground states including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, drawing tens of thousands of attendees, a new sign of how her late campaigning is energizing Democrats.
Her meteoric rise has Trump’s team scrambling to recalibrate their strategy and messaging. Polls show Harris has erased the lead Trump built over President Joe Biden, with Democrats raising hundreds of millions of dollars from voters and big donors in just a few weeks.
Trump insisted on Thursday that he had not changed his tune about the race, holding Harris to be co-responsible for Biden’s record.
During a question-and-answer session with reporters that lasted more than an hour, Trump jumped from one topic to another, claiming that Harris and Walz were weaker candidates and that their poll numbers had declined.
Still, Trump lamented his inability to face Biden in the Nov. 5 election, suggesting the president was the victim of an unconstitutional conspiracy aimed at ousting him from the Democratic ticket.
Biden abandoned his faltering re-election bid after a poor debate performance against Trump, under pressure from fellow Democrats worried about his chances of winning.
Asked about his controversial remarks last week that Harris, who is of black and Indian descent, “happened to become black” recently, Trump said: “You have to ask her that question because she is so That said, I didn’t say it… It didn’t matter to me, but to her, from her perspective, I thought it was very disrespectful to both parties, really, both Indian and Black people, I think it’s very disrespectful to both parties.
Trump’s initial comments to black reporters drew widespread condemnation and confused and alarmed donors and aides.
Trump also mocked the size of Harris’ campaign crowds on Thursday, even though they have recently matched his numbers. He falsely claimed that the same number of people who spoke on January 6, 2021, the day his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, were on the National Mall in Washington to watch Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream.” More speeches from 1963.
“We actually have more people,” Trump said. “But I’m OK with that because I like Dr. Martin Luther King.”
Trump echoed his campaign’s latest line of attack, criticizing Harris for not speaking to the media since launching her campaign.
“She can’t do interviews. She has almost no ability,” Trump said, later calling her “nasty” again, a common phrase he often uses to disparage female critics.
Trump has conducted a steady stream of media interviews, albeit often with friendly, right-leaning outlets and journalists. On Wednesday, he appeared on the “Fox & Friends” morning show and answered questions from the show’s hosts.
Trump announced the news conference on his social media platforms Thursday morning, and only a handful of reporters received the advance notice needed to travel to his Florida resort in time. Reuters did not receive an invitation.
Harris took some questions from reporters after meeting with autoworkers in Detroit on Thursday after the United Auto Workers union endorsed her candidacy. She said she wanted to schedule an in-person interview “before the end of the month.”
