Republican candidate Donald Trump has agreed to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, he shared in a post on Truth Social on Friday, Aug. 2.
“I have agreed with Fox News to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th. The Debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant," Trump said on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
Trump said that the debate would be held in the battleground state of Pennsylvania and have a live audience—unlike the previous debate between President Biden and Trump, in which the candidates spoke to empty seats. Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will moderate.
However, there’s a problem, as Harris—the presumptive Democratic nominee—is intending on debating Trump on the originally agreed upon platform of ABC on Sept. 10.
On Saturday afternoon, Harris’ campaign said in a statement that they believe "Donald Trump is running scared" and hoping that Fox News might “bail him out” of the agreed debate with ABC.
"He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept. 10," Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign communication director, said in a statement to TIME. "The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience."
"Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he's too scared to show up on the 10th," Tyler added, referencing a Truth Social post of Trump’s from March, whereby he said: “I am calling for Debates, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!”
Harris also spoke out herself via X (formerly Twitter). Addressing Trump’s announcement about his plans to debate on Fox News, the Vice President wrote: “It’s interesting how ‘any time, any place’ becomes ‘one specific time, one specific safe space.’ I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.”
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 3, 2024It’s interesting how “any time, any place” becomes “one specific time, one specific safe space.”
I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there. https://t.co/zqng89X8QD
TIME has reached out to Fox News and ABC, along with the Trump and Harris campaigns, for comment and further information.
The debate between President Biden and Trump last month proved a pivotal moment in the 2024 presidential election that ultimately led to Biden withdrawing from the race. Trump showed his willingness to take on President Biden in another debate, but since Biden dropped out of the race in July, there have been ongoing discussions as to whether Trump will debate Harris instead. While the Harris campaign has repeatedly said it is willing to take Biden’s place in the previously scheduled debate in September, set to be hosted by ABC, the Trump campaign has pushed for a new debate hosted by Fox News.
During a campaign rally in Atlanta on Tuesday, July 30, Harris accused Trump of backing out of the debate. “The momentum in this race is shifting and there are signs that Donald Trump is feeling it. Last week you may have seen he pulled out of the debate in September he had previously agreed to… so he won’t debate but he and his running mate [J.D. Vance] sure seem to have a lot to say about me,” she said as a crowd of around 10,000 people cheered her on. “Well, Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage. Because as the saying goes: ‘If you got something to say, say it to my face.’”
The public call-out from Harris came after Trump discussed his debate intentions during an interview that aired on Fox News on Monday, July 29. Addressing host Laura Ingraham, the Republican candidate said he would “probably end up debating” Harris, and that the debate should be held “before the votes are cast”—though he added that he “can also make a case for not doing it.”
“I want to do a debate. But I also can say this. Everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is,” he said.
The confusion about whether Trump would debate Harris kickstarted on Monday, July 22, when author and Democrat Stephen King posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Trump has announced he won’t debate Kamala Harris.” The post received over 18 million views. King, who has over seven million followers, was criticized by the Trump team. “Stephen King is a dumba--,” Cheung, the campaign spokesperson, is quoted as telling Newsweek.
King’s post came after Trump had spoken out on Truth Social about being dissatisfied with the September debate being hosted by ABC. On Sunday, July 21, he wrote: “My debate with Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the history of the United States, was slated to be broadcast on Fake News ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, sometime in September. Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, has quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC. Thank you! DJT.”
Trump emphasized this view on Tuesday, July 23, again misspelling ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos' surname. “ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, is not worthy of holding a Debate, of which I hope there will be many! MAGA2024,” the Republican candidate said on Truth Social.
Trump filed a defamation suit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos earlier this year. (David Muir and Linsey Davis, not Stephanopoulos, were the planned moderators of the ABC debate.)
