- ‘Why would I debate Kamala Harris on that network?’
Former President Donald Trump has hinted that he might not participate in the upcoming ABC News debate scheduled for Sept. 10, accusing the network of harboring “Trump haters” as it works to chip away at Kamala Harris’ new lead in the polls.
Trump lashed out at the network after 10 p.m. Sunday in a post on Truth Social, where he gave the network’s weekend programming a bad rap before making the threat.
‘I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both the ridiculous and biased interview by light journalist Jonathan Carl (K?) with Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and his so-called Trump Haters Panel, and I wonder, why would he do the Kamala Harris Debate on that network?’ he wrote.
He was referring to the network’s Jonathan Karl, who questioned Trump in the White House during his presidency.
He then went on to attack members of the network’s “This Week” panel, including Donna Brazil, a DNC member who parted ways with CNN after hacked emails published on WikiLeaks in 2016 revealed she sent debate questions to Hillary Clinton’s team.
“Will panelist Donna Brazil ask the Marxist candidate the same questions as she did with corrupt Hillary Clinton? Will Kamala’s best friend who runs ABC do the same? Where is Liddle’ George Slopadopolus now? Will he participate? They have many questions to answer! Why did Harris turn down Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN? Stay tuned!!!” Trump wrote.
Former President Donald Trump took on ABC News in an online post on Sunday, asking why he should do a debate with Kamala Harris on the network.
Stephanpoulos apologized in July after he was caught on video talking to a bystander about President Joe Biden. “I don’t think I can serve four more years,” the host said, days before Biden decided to drop out of the race.
The two sides are still haggling over the terms of the next debate, the only one left on which both sides have reached an agreement.
Harris adviser Brian Fallon said both candidates should keep their microphones on throughout the broadcast.
“We understand that Trump’s advisers prefer the microphone to be muted because they do not believe their nominee can act as president for 90 minutes on his own,” she said in a statement. Trump’s team, for its part, says Harris wants a debate in which notes can be taken and opening statements can be made.
Harris’ team denies this. “All three parties (Trump, Harris and ABC) have agreed not to run in the election and we have never asked for anything else,” Fallon said.
Trump was enraged by an interview Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) did on ABC on Sunday, claiming the network was biased.
Regardless of Trump’s criticism of the network, he may feel pressured to show up. The June 27 contest between Trump and Biden kicked off the series of events that forced the 81-year-old president to end his campaign.
And next month she will face a Harris campaign that is in motion after her policy convention and a new fundraiser. Harris has also turned the race around in the “blue wall” battleground states, while evening out the race in others. Wisconsin and Pennsylvania have moved to “leaning Democrat,” according to NPR’s latest analysis released Monday, while Nevada, Arizona and North Carolina have moved to “unpredictable.”
Karl clashed with Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton on Sunday’s “This Week” after criticizing Kamala Harris for her past support of Medicare for All.
Cotton compared it to “taking away workplace health insurance from 170 million Americans.”
—What do you mean by taking away health insurance? What are you talking about? —Karl replied.
“That’s not her position now,” Karl continued. Harris has reversed her stance from the 2020 primaries and is now in line with the Biden administration on health care policy.
“How do you know that’s not his position now?” Cotton replied.
Trump has threatened to pull out of debates in the past, including earlier this month when he threatened to skip the ABC debate in favor of an earlier one on Fox, which Harris has not agreed to.
