Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign continues to emphasize its claim that former President Donald Trump is reneging on his commitment to a debate in September.
Trump had agreed to two debates with President Joe Biden: one on June 27 on CNN and another on September 10 on ABC, with the latter scheduled to occur regardless of Biden’s status in the race.
The communications director for Harris’ campaign, Michael Tyler, affirmed that the presumptive Democratic nominee will be present at the September 10 debate, regardless of Trump’s attendance.
“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” Tyler said, according to The Hill. “If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘We’ll see you there’ — and it appears that they are — it’s a convenient but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on Sept. 10 — we’ll see if Trump shows.”
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he would “absolutely” debate Harris but suggested he might not participate in the ABC event, according to The Hill. His campaign stated on Thursday that it would not agree to a general election debate with Harris until Democrats formally select their nominee. Harris is reported to have secured enough delegates for the nomination, with a virtual vote scheduled for August 1, ahead of the Democratic National Convention from August 19-22 in Chicago.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, told MSNBC on Sunday that “of course” the former president will debate the Democrat nominee, The Hill reported, but that Democrats “need to pick who their ultimate nominee is going to be, that needs to be formalized before we go and lock in all the debates.”
Miller told Axios on Thursday, “Not only will there be another debate, but there should be multiple debates. We do think there should be some diversification in the outlets for who hosts a debate, but I think the public would be sold short if we only did one debate against Kamala Harris in the general election.”
Fox News has invited the campaigns of Trump and Harris to hold a debate on the network after President Joe Biden decided earlier this month to withdraw from the debate and endorse his VP.
“Now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee, FOX News Media is amending our proposal for a debate this cycle. Given the race has changed, we’d like to request the opportunity to host a Presidential Debate between VP Harris and former President Trump,” said a letter from Fox News Media president Jay Wallace and Fox News Vice President of Politics Jessica Loker.
“We propose to host the debate in the state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, September 17, just as early voting is getting underway there and in other key battlegrounds. We are open to discussion on the exact date, format and location – with or without an audience,” the letter continued.
They concluded: “In recognition of FOX News Media’s capabilities and reputation, we cordially extend an invitation to all concerned parties to discuss our proposal. We appreciate your consideration and look forward to the opportunity to foster informed political dialogue at this pivotal moment for our nation.”
Fox noted that neither campaign had responded to the offer, but Trump addressed the debates on his Truth Social platform this week.
“My debate with Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the history of the United States, was slated to be broadcast on Fake News ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, sometime in September,” Trump wrote.
“Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, has quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC. Thank you!” he added.
