V ice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have agreed to debate on ABC on Sept. 10, setting up the first confrontation between the new opponents on stage before the November election.
Trump said he also agreed to participate in a Fox News debate on Sept. 4 and an NBC debate on Sept. 25. Harris hasn’t yet agreed to the other two debates Trump outlined.
“I look forward to the debates, because I think we have to set the record straight,” Trump said at a news conference on Thursday from his Mar-a-Lago home in South Florida. “I think it's very important that we have them. I hope she agrees to them… I think they'll be very revealing.”
Harris confirmed her participation in the ABC debate and told reporters on Thursday that she would be open to discussing additional debates afterwards. “I’m glad that he’s finally agreed to a debate on September 10th. I’m looking forward to it, and I hope he shows up,” Harris said before boarding Air Force Two in Detroit. Asked if she would participate in the other debates proposed by Trump, Harris said: “I’m happy to have that conversation about an additional debate for after September 10th.”
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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Trump’s push for three debates comes less than a week after he said he was going to pull out of the previously scheduled September debate on ABC. He claimed that his agreement “has been terminated” because he will no longer face President Joe Biden, who ended his re-election campaign last month in the wake of a disastrous debate performance against Trump. Trump also claimed the ABC debate could be a conflict of interest because he is in litigation against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos. The Harris campaign pounced on Trump’s cancellation, framing the former President as “afraid to debate” in a series of attack ads.
"We were given Joe Biden and now we're given somebody else,” Trump said Thursday. “And I think, frankly, I'd rather be running against the somebody else.” He also called Harris a “bad debater.”
Trump said Thursday that his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance , would participate in a vice presidential debate on CBS, although Vance wouldn’t commit to one against Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz when asked on Wednesday. Walz said on Aug. 6 that he would be willing to debate Vance: "And I gotta tell ya: I can't wait to debate this guy."
Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com .
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