Donald Trump declines invitation for second debate with Kamala Harris hosted by Fox News

Former President Donald Trump declined additional debates with Vice President Kamala Harris after reportedly turning down an invitation from Fox News.

Fox News invited the candidates to debate in Pennsylvania on either Oct. 24 or Oct. 27, with Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum as moderators, the outlet said Wednesday.

"This would present an opportunity for each candidate to make his or her closing arguments," FOX News Media executives wrote.

Later that evening, Trump took to Truth Social reiterating his previous statements that there would be no rematch. He said again that it is too late in the election cycle to debate. Debates typically happen in September and October.

USA TODAY reached out to both campaigns for comment Thursday.

Fact check: No, Kamala Harris didn't 'back out' of Sept. 4 debate

Trump continues to decline debates

After the September presidential debate, pundits widely declared Harris the winner after she baited Trump into angry rants, USA TODAY previously reported. The Harris campaign immediately pressed Trump for another go.

In a rebuttal days later, Trump said on Truth Social he would not participate in his third debate .

Since then, the Democrats put up billboards in Indiana and Pennsylvania calling Trump " a chicken ," for not participating in another debate.

Harris also accepted an invitation from CNN for a debate on Oct. 23 , but Trump declined again, saying at a rally, "It's just too late - voting has already started."

Some Republicans, like Sen. Lindsey Graham R-S.C. , have said they would like to see Trump agree to a second debate as they try to shift the focus off of personal attacks and onto Harris' policy positions.

In the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 1, Tim Walz and JD Vance put on a surprisingly civil show. As USA TODAY's Susan Page described, it served as a further test for the candidates at the top of the ticket. Vance focused on Trump's message at the debate more coherently than Trump did himself in September. Walz stumbled on his words at times and struggled to hold Vance accountable.

Both presidential candidates declared their running mates the winner of the VP debate.

Contributing: Susan Page. Sudiksha Kochi and David Jackson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump declines invitation for second debate with Kamala Harris hosted by Fox News