Donald Trump Doubles Down On Plans To Dodge Next Presidential Debate

Former President Donald Trump continued his attacks against ABC News on Monday as he moved to shift his commitment to the next presidential debate now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the frontrunner to be the Democratic nominee.

Trump began laying the groundwork this weekend to dodge or change the rules of the second debate he’s agreed to , which is set to be held Sept. 10 and broadcast on ABC. The former president has been livid after President Joe Biden ended his bid for reelection on Sunday.

“ABC Fake News is such a joke, among the absolute WORST in the business,” he wrote on Truth Social. “They then tried to make ‘Sleepy’ look like a great President — he was the WORST, and Lyin’ Kamala into a competent person, which she is not.”

“ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, is not worthy of holding a Debate, of which I hope there will be many!” he went on, using a demeaning name for host George Stephanopoulos.

Trump’s first debate against Biden was largely a success for his campaign, and he was anointed at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week for the third time. But he has since turned his attention to Harris, attacking her role in the White House and the Biden administration’s policies along the southern border with Mexico.

On Sunday, the former president complained that Biden had dropped out after Republicans had spent “time and money” fighting him, musing that Democrats should reimburse the party for “fraud.”

Harris began her campaign — now flush with $81 million in donations — in earnest on Monday, pointing to her long career as a prosecutor and Trump’s long history as a defendant on trial.

“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain,” she said. “So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.”