Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Donald Trump announced that he’s dropping out of a debate on ABC and is trying to force a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News.
On Saturday (Aug. 3), Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced that he won’t be taking part in the scheduled presidential debate on ABC, and is instead, stating that he’ll only debate Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the former president insulted Harris, writing that she “doesn’t have the mental capacity to do a REAL Debate against me, scheduled for September 4th in Pennsylvania.” He went on to say that “I’ll see her on September 4th or, I won’t see her at all.” Representatives for Fox News haven’t responded to press inquiries.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Vice President Harris called Trump out, writing: “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.” Another post from her campaign team reiterated her stance in a stronger tone, writing that Trump was “running scared” and calling him “Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace.”
Trump agreed to two debates with President Joe Biden in May. The first was held in Atlanta on CNN on June 27, and the second is scheduled for ABC on Sept. 10, with its chief political anchor George Stephanopoulos as moderator. Trump said in an earlier Truth Social post that he wanted to debate Harris on Sept. 4 because of Biden withdrawing from the race and the “conflict of interest” with Stephanopoulos moderating, citing a lawsuit he filed against the network.
Trump has attacked the anchor and ABC in previous interviews, calling them “fake news” in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. Trump has been mocked on social media since Biden’s stepping down and endorsing Harris as the Democratic candidate for the election. Observers feel that Trump avoiding a debate with Harris would cost him dearly, including former Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci who stated in a CNN Newsroom interview that it “would be a disaster for him if he doesn’t debate the vice president.”