Kamala Harris has declined to debate Donald Trump after Fox News offered to host the event on September 4 in Pennsylvania. Harris’s campaign argued that Trump had already committed to a debate on September 10.
Trump did agree to that debate, since he sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos but the commitment was made with Joe Biden’s campaign, which is no longer in place. Harris appears to be attempting to replace Biden’s position and expects Trump to honor his agreement with Biden as if it were with her.
“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out. He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept. 10,” Harris’s campaign posted on X. “The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime-time national audience.” Harris has not held a press conference since stepping into Biden’s campaign as the Democratic candidate.
“We’re happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to,” the campaign stated. The original agreement for the ABC September 10 event was made with Biden’s campaign, not Harris’s. “Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th,” the campaign wrote. September 4 is, of course, six days before the Biden-Trump agreed debate.
Harris had not been invited to the September 10 debate when it was scheduled, as she was not running for president at that time. Trump has not backed out of a debate with Harris because no such debate has been scheduled. Harris’s campaign seems to expect Trump to treat the new campaign as if it were still Biden’s.
“Fact Check,” Charlie Kirk said on X, “Trump never agreed to debate Kamala Harris. He agreed to debate Joe Biden, which he did on CNN, which might as well be labeled a Democrat super PAC. Kamala is terrified of being revealed as the con artist she is.”
Pete Buttigieg expressed doubts about Harris debating Trump on Fox, saying, “I would be skeptical of the fairness of a debate hosted by Fox, but that’s a decision that I’m sure she and the campaign will think through.”
Fox offered a debate on September 4, which Trump accepted, stating, “I have agreed with Fox News to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th. The debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated as Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Stephanopoulos, creating a conflict of interest. The Fox News debate will be held in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at a site to be determined. The moderators will be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, and the rules will be similar to my debate with Sleepy Joe, but with a full arena audience!”
In a second post, Trump wrote, “As everyone knows, the Democrats have unconstitutionally replaced a candidate who was acknowledged to be defeated with a new candidate. This has never been done before and is a threat to democracy, but I am prepared to accept the results of this ‘coup’ and replace Joe on the debate stage with Crazy Kamala Harris. I spent hundreds of millions of dollars, time, and effort fighting Joe, and when I won the debate, they threw a new candidate into the ring. Not fair, but it is what it is! Nevertheless, different candidate or not, their bad policies are the same, and this will be strongly revealed at the September 4th debate. I look forward to meeting and debating Kamala Harris on September 4th. This date is convenient and appropriate as it is just before the September 6th start of early voting in the 2024 presidential election. I look forward to seeing everyone on September 4th, in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania!”