Former President Donald Trump has agreed to debate Vice President Kamala Harris , but she rejected the new terms.
The GOP nominee said on Friday evening he would meet Harris in Pennsylvania next month for a debate hosted by Fox News. Trump also announced he had negotiated debate terms that would include an audience, which was not part of the first presidential debate between the Republican leader and President Joe Biden.
“I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th,” Trump said in a late-night post to Truth Social.
“The Debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest,” he said. “The FoxNews Debate will be held in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at a site in an area to be determined. The Moderators of the Debate will be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, and the 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!….”
Harris clapped back at Trump’s debate swap, slamming the former president' s attempt to change the host network to Fox, saying she planned to stick with the previous ABC plan.
“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,” Harris for President communications director Michael Tyler said in comments to the Washington Examiner.
“He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10,” the Harris spokesman said of Trump.
“The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience,” Tyler continued.
The Harris campaign says it is willing to discuss alternative debate options after Sept. 10.
“Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th,” the campaign said.
It’s not clear whether Fox News has agreed to the former president’s terms.
While Trump has consistently expressed a desire to do a head-to-head matchup with his Democratic opponent, the MAGA leader attracted widespread speculation he would refuse to do so after declining to commit to a debate for more than a week.
After Trump told Fox News earlier this week he “could make a case” for not debating Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee ridiculed him for “pulling out of the debate,” and made it a talking point for her campaign.
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Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee announced plans to launch an entire advertising campaign built around the debacle. Charges that the GOP leader backed out of the debate because he “knows the only way he can win is if he hides his dangerous Project 2025 agenda,” were set to follow Trump across state lines as he campaigned.
Trump has repeatedly disavowed Project 2025, which the Heritage Foundation created as the political infrastructure to wield a Republican agenda given a Republican win this November.
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