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04-08-2024
WASHINGTON: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said he will debate Democratic U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News on Sept. 4, in a post on Truth Social late on Friday, though the Harris campaign did not confirm the event.
“Rules will be similar to the rules of my debate with Sleepy Joe, who has been treated horribly by his party, but with a full arena audience,” Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden, who has since dropped his reelection bid.
Harris’s campaign said it did not have a comment. Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s statement came right after the Democratic National Committee launched an advertising campaign on Friday taunting him by saying “the convicted felon is afraid to debate” and questioning whether that is due to his stance on abortion.
After Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and backed Harris, Trump said he would not debate her because she was not the official candidate.
On Friday, Harris secured the delegate votes needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.
Trump’s post, opens new tab was removed for a few minutes before being reposted, with Trump deleting his proposal for a “major” town hall gathering on the same date if Harris was “unwilling or unable to debate”.
Harris had responded last month that she was “ready” after Fox News proposed the presidential debate between the two candidates on Sept. 17.
Trump said the debate would take place in the battleground state of Pennsylvania with a “full arena audience.” The first and only debate this year between Trump and Biden had no in-house audience.
The Democratic National Committee’s newest advertising campaign, launched on Friday, taunt Republican rival Donald Trump for not committing to a debate with Kamala Harris and is set to follow him on the campaign trail.
The DNC has purchased large ads that dominate the digital homepages of major local newspapers in states where Trump plans to campaign in the coming weeks. The ads say “the convicted felon is afraid to debate” and question whether that is due to his stance on abortion.
The first ads are running on the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s homepage ahead of Trump’s visit to the Georgia capital on Saturday and the ad campaign will follow him through local news outlets at each rally stop, the DNC said.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump welcomes an opportunity to compare records, but stopped short of saying the former president will debate Harris.
“President Trump has long been consistent in supporting the rights of states to make decisions on abortion. Kamala Harris and the Democrats are radically out of touch with the majority of Americans in their support for abortion up until birth and even after birth,” Leavitt said.
Trump emerged a clear victor from his June 27 debate with President Joe Biden, whose faltering performance renewed voters’ deep concerns about his age. The two had agreed to a second debate on Sept. 10.
After Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and backed Harris, Trump said that he would not debate her because she was not the official candidate. He added that former President Barack Obama had yet to endorse her as proof of lack of support for her bid. A day later, Obama endorsed Harris, who on Friday secured the delegate votes needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.
Recent polls show a tight contest between Harris and Trump, who had enjoyed a bigger lead over Biden after the first debate. (Int’l News Desk)
