Vice President Kamala Harris refused to accept former President Donald Trump’s invitation to a September 4 debate on Fox News a day after she officially became the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.
Despite declining Trump's invitation, Harris indicated she would debate Trump on one condition: if ABC News hosted the event.
ABC News is historically known for leaning more Democrat, while Fox News, although not always a Trump fan, lean more right.
“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out. He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10,” Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler said.
“Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he's too scared to show up on the 10th," Tyler continued.
On Friday, Trump announced plans to debate Harris, declaring Fox News hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum as the moderators. Unlike the last presidential debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, where the president’s team set up rules such as having no audience, and mics turned off when the other candidate was speaking, Trump said there would be changes to the rules.
“The Rules will be similar to the Rules of my Debate with Sleepy Joe, who has been treated horribly by his Party – BUT WITH A FULL ARENA AUDIENCE!" Trump wrote on social media. He also said that the debate would be held in Pennsylvania "at a site in an area to be determined.”
In a separate X post, Harris reacted to Trump’s debate invitation, saying that “it’s interesting how “any time, any place” becomes “one specific time, one specific safe space.”
It’s interesting how “any time, any place” becomes “one specific time, one specific safe space.”
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 3, 2024
I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there. https://t.co/zqng89X8QD
The Harris campaign is steadfast in doing a debate on their terms and their terms only.
Before Biden was forced out of the 2024 race, the 81-year-old president and Trump were slated to debate once more on Sept 10.
Debates could make or break a candidate’s chances of securing votes. Immediately after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, media outlets and Democrat lawmakers began calling for him to step aside, citing health concerns.