Donald Trump Lays Groundwork To Dodge Or Change Rules Of The Next Debate

Former President Donald Trump moved to shift his commitment to a second presidential debate just hours after President Joe Biden on Sunday dropped his bid for reelection.

The Trump campaign in May agreed to two presidential debates in the run-up to the November election. The first, on June 27, was disastrous for Biden and ultimately led to the end of his campaign. The second is set to be held on Sept. 10 and broadcast on ABC News.

But the former president said he thought the rules should change now that Biden is out and Vice President Kamala Harris is a likely contender to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you!”

He went on to complain that his campaign had been “forced to spend time and money” fighting Biden and now had to “start all over again” against another challenger.

“Shouldn’t the Republican Party be reimbursed for fraud in that everybody around Joe, including his doctors and the Fake News Media, knew he was not capable of running for, or being, President?” Trump wrote. “Just askin’?”

The former president’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), has also been cagey about committing to a vice presidential debate, citing uncertainty about whom he might actually end up debating if Biden should leave the race. It’s not clear what will now happen once the eventual Democratic nominee chooses their own running mate.