Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday she wants to stick to the debate the Biden and Trump campaigns agreed to before she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and accused her opponent of “backpedaling.”
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Harris noted that Trump had previously agreed that the debate would take place in September. That debate was scheduled for Sept. 10 and would be hosted by ABC News.
“You’ve been asking me about the debate and I will tell you that I am ready to debate Donald Trump,” Harris said.
“I agreed to the debate on September 10th, which we had previously agreed to. He had already agreed to that. Now he’s backing off, but I’m ready,” Harris said.
The vice president said voters “deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race” on the debate stage. “I’m ready. Let’s go!” she declared.
Vice President Kamala Harris said she agreed to the previously agreed-upon Sept. 10 debate against Trump and accused the former president of ‘backtracking’
After President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday, former President Donald Trump began pushing to have the second debate moved from ABC News to a more conservative-friendly network.
“Now that Joe has predictably dropped out of the race, I believe the debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than the very biased ABC,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night.
Within 48 hours of Biden dropping out of the race, Harris had secured enough Democratic delegates to become the presumptive nominee.
Donald Trump at his rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, July 24. The former president posted on Truth Social that the debate should be held on Fox News after Biden drops out of the race.
On a call with reporters hosted by the Republican National Committee on Tuesday, Trump said he would “absolutely” debate Harris and even suggested there would be more than one debate.
“I want to debate her and it won’t be any different because they have the same policies,” Trump said. “In fact, I would be willing to do more than one debate.”
Trump, however, said he was “not thrilled” that ABC News moderated the report.
Fox News revealed on Wednesday that it had reached out to both campaigns to arrange a debate.
In a letter, Fox News Chairman Jay Wallace proposed a debate for Sept. 17 in the swing state of Pennsylvania. He noted that it would take place just as early voting begins in the state.
He also suggested that hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum could moderate it.
President Biden debated Trump in Atlanta on June 27. The president’s performance during the debate sparked growing calls for him to step aside from the race from Democrats.
The first presidential debate, to be held on June 27 and hosted by CNN in Atlanta, is seen as a turning point for Biden. His disastrous prime-time performance sparked growing concerns about whether he was fit for a second term.
Several Democratic lawmakers began calling on the president to step aside amid doubts about whether he could beat Trump. Less than a month later, Biden dropped out of the race.