Kamala Harris’ campaign left Philadelphia on Tuesday night eager to take on Donald Trump again. The former president, once eager to schedule a second debate, didn’t seem so sure.
Trump, whose debate performance was widely criticized as chaotic and riddled with falsehoods, insisted Wednesday morning that he had been the victor against Harris. Another debate, Trump suggested, would give the vice president another chance.
“The first thing they did was ask for a debate because when a boxer loses, he says, ‘I want a rematch,’” Trump said Wednesday morning on “Fox & Friends.” Asked if he would agree to another debate, the former president said, “I would be less inclined to do it because we had a great night, we won the debate, we had a terrible network.”
Trump blasted ABC News, which hosted the debate, as “the most dishonest news organization” and called Tuesday’s debate — during which moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis repeatedly fact-checked Trump — “three to one” and “a rigged deal.” Still, he called his performance “one of my best debates, maybe my best debate.”
On Tuesday night, Harris’ campaign released a statement calling for a second debate, and Fox News offered to host one moderated by Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier “as early in-person voting begins in several battleground states” — on Oct. 9 in Arizona, Oct. 15 in Georgia or Oct. 16 in North Carolina.
“It seems like the American people would love to have another chance to see these candidates. It’s been a very short period of time and they deserve as many chances as possible,” MacCallum said during the network’s post-debate coverage. “We certainly hope they take advantage of the opportunity.”
But Trump appeared to reject the network’s offer on Wednesday, saying he “wouldn’t want to have Martha and Brett.” While he said he “probably” wouldn’t agree to any more debates, he said he would consider right-wing commentators Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters and Laura Ingraham, Fox News opinion hosts who are sympathetic to the former president.
“I didn’t think Martha and Brett were doing well last night,” she added, as the “Fox & Friends” hosts were quick to steer the conversation elsewhere.
Harris campaign spokesman Quentin Fulks said on CNN Wednesday that Harris “is open to a debate in October.”
“But if I were Donald Trump,” he said, “I wouldn’t want to debate Kamala Harris.”
