Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer believes Donald Trump is too “afraid” of “strong black woman” Vice President Kamala Harris to debate her.
The veteran New York Democrat claimed the former president was afraid to debate the Democratic nominee during an interview Thursday with NBC News.
“He’s afraid to even debate Kamala Harris. He already said he wouldn’t debate, you know?” Schumer said.
“She’s a strong black woman. Donald Trump may not want to say it, but it’s true and everyone knows it,” the top Democrat continued. “He’s afraid to debate her.”
But Schumer is not the only Democrat urging the former president to debate Harris; other senior members of the party are also courting Trump.
Former President Donald Trump is too afraid to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told NBC News this week. His comments come after Trump walked out of a debate with Harris in September.
The effort to get the 45th president on stage to debate Harris is also being pushed by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other top liberals.
Buttigieg, using the same line as Schumer, said Trump is “afraid” of Harris in an interview with MSNBC last week.
“Toughness is the hallmark of this guy and now there is an extraordinary display of weakness,” Buttigieg said.
“(Trump) said he could do it anytime, anywhere, but more than that, he agreed to this specific debate, on this specific network, on this specific date, and now he’s walking away,” the secretary lamented on Morning Joe.
“That shows he’s afraid,” Buttigieg continued.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, widely considered Harris’ top choice for a running mate, also used the Democrat’s now-common refrain.
“Donald Trump is now afraid to debate[Kamala Harris]and not just because he knows she’s a skilled debater,” Shapiro wrote on X this week.
“He’s scared because he can’t run away from his record anymore, but here in Pennsylvania we haven’t forgotten who he is and we’re not going back.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Donald Trump is “afraid” to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, a common line used by Democrats trying to provoke Donald
Former President Donald Trump pledged to debate President Joe Biden, but backed away from his commitment to debate “anytime, anywhere” after Biden was replaced as the Democratic front-runner by Vice President Kamala Harris.
This week, Senate Democrats were eager to portray the vice president as a skilled prosecutor while repeatedly referring to Trump as a criminal.
Democrats are likely to rely more on this prosecutor-versus-criminal language as the race progresses in an attempt to highlight Harris’ record as a San Francisco prosecutor before becoming a senator.
Harris even publicly criticized Trump for doubting her commitment to debate in September on ABC.
“What happened to ‘anytime, anywhere’?” Harris asked in response to a post announcing Trump’s withdrawal from the X event.
“If you have something to say, say it to my face,” Harris later said at a campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia, this week, receiving a strident response for her comment.
“What happened to ‘anytime, anywhere’?” Harris posted on X after Trump rescinded his offer to participate in a debate on Sept. 10.
However, Trump had agreed to debate President Joe Biden at the Sept. 10 ABC debate, not Harris.
Still, he promised to debate “anytime, anywhere.”
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung sought to clarify Trump’s pledge after the former president backed off last week.
“Given the continued political chaos surrounding corrupt Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, the details of the general election debate cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” he said.
‘There is a strong sense among many in the Democratic Party – most notably Barack Hussein Obama – that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who can’t beat President Trump, and they are still waiting for someone ‘better.’
“So it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats could very well change their minds yet.”
The Democratic National Convention from August 19 to 22 will officially determine the party’s nominee for president, but Harris has already secured enough delegates.
Trump, for his part, is still trying to get by.
He has since called out ABC’s “fake news” and said he would prefer the event to air on Fox News.