Trump Says He's Agreed To Fox News Debate In Desperate Move To Avoid Harris On ABC
Former President Donald Trump shared on social media late Friday that he’s agreed with Fox News to take part in a Sept. 4 debate with Kamala Harris before suggesting that the vice president hasn’t OK’d any such faceoff.
“If for any reason Kamala is unwilling or unable to debate on that date, I have agreed with Fox to do a major Town Hall on the same September 4th evening,” wrote the Republican nominee, in a since-deleted post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump, who has pushed for the next debate to take place on Fox News instead of an ABC News-moderated faceoff set for Sept. 10, later reshared his debate plans without talk of a town hall-style event.
Trump has questioned why he should debate Harris and hasn’t committed to take her on in the proposed ABC News-moderated event that both he and Joe Biden signed onto before the president stepped aside from his reelection bid.
Harris, who secured enough votes from delegates to become the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee on Friday, has emphasized that she’s “ready” for the debate previously agreed upon between the two.
The Republican nominee wrote on Friday that the “previously scheduled” ABC News-moderated debate has been “terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant” and also cited an ongoing lawsuit against the network.
Harris told an Atlanta crowd on Tuesday that she hoped Trump would reconsider meeting her on the debate stage at the time.
“Because as the saying goes: If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face,” said Harris at a campaign rally.