Trump Agrees to Debate Harris on September 4
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced late Friday that he has agreed to debate his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, on Fox News on September 4.
“I have agreed with Fox News to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
It was not immediately clear if Harris had agreed to the debate.
Trump’s post came just hours after the vice president secured the Democratic Party’s nomination as the standard bearer in the November presidential election. This followed the decision of 81-year-old President Joe Biden to abandon his re-election bid amid growing concerns about his age and lagging polling numbers. Biden’s withdrawal came after a disastrous debate performance against Trump in June on CNN.
A second Trump-Biden debate had been scheduled for September 10 on ABC, but it will now feature Harris instead of Biden. A spokesman for Trump last week said it would be “inappropriate” to schedule a debate before Harris was formally the Democratic nominee.
The 78-year-old Republican nominee had previously stated he would not debate Harris, who is nearly two decades his junior, departing from political tradition. Harris, a former prosecutor and ex-California attorney general, had challenged Trump to debate her face-to-face.
“Well Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider meeting me on the debate stage, because as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face,” Harris said at a campaign rally in Atlanta last month.
In his post, Trump said the debate will be held in Pennsylvania, moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, in front of a full audience. Fox News confirmed that the debate would have “spectators” and follow similar rules to the June 27 CNN debate between Trump and Biden.
The news channel said it had invited Trump and Harris to participate in the debate in Pennsylvania in September.
“I look forward to meeting and debating Kamala Harris on September 4th,” Trump said, adding that the date was “convenient and appropriate” as it comes just before the September 6 start of early voting for the presidential election.
