Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Monday that while he would “probably” debate Vice President Kamala HarrisHe “could also make an argument” to avoid a direct confrontation with his potential Democratic opponent.
Trump, in an interview with Fox News that aired Monday night, initially did not say whether he would commit to debating Harris. And while he appeared to confirm that he was willing to debate, his answer left room for ambiguity.
The comments underscore how much the dynamics of the race have changed in the week since President Joe Biden has withdrawn his re-election bid — a decision that came after his disastrous debate with Trump in late June.
Before that debate, Trump had repeatedly challenged Biden to face him “anytime, anywhere, anyplace.” But when asked about debating Harris, he took a different tone.
“So I love debates. I love debates, I’ve been in a lot of debates,” the former president told Fox host Laura Ingraham.
“I want to debate, but I can also say this: Everyone knows who I am, and now everyone knows who she is,” he said, accusing Harris of being a “left-wing extremist”.
Ingraham interjected: “Then why not argue with her?”
Trump replied, “Oh, wait. But, because they already know everything.”
When Ingraham said, “They’re going to say you’re afraid to debate her,” Trump replied, “They said the same thing about Biden.”
“I’m leading in the polls,” Trump added, although some recent polls have shown Harris roughly tied or slightly ahead, both nationally and in key swing states.
“The answer is yes, I would probably end the debate,” Trump said, adding, “I think the debate should actually take place before the voting starts.”
He noted that his second debate with Biden in the 2020 race was “very good,” but that a large number of votes had already been cast by the time that mid-October event took place.
“So the answer is yes,” Trump said. “But I can also give reasons not to do it.”
Harris, meanwhile, has been publicly pushing Trump to debate her since she became the Democratic nominee after Biden withdrew on July 21.
Her campaign said early Monday that she would be at the Presidential debate September 10 — which Trump and then-presumptive nominee Biden agreed to attend — regardless of whether her Republican opponent was there or not.
“We’ll see if Trump shows up,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement.
“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land, and she will do that at the ABC debate in September,” Tyler said. “If Donald Trump and his team say anything other than ‘we’ll see you there,’—and it appears they are—it’s a convenient but expected retreat from Team Trump.”
Harris has it. Trump accused of “backing down” from that debate.
“I think voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on the debate stage, and so I’m ready,” Harris told reporters on Thursday. “Here we go.”
While Trump told reporters last week that he would be willing to debated Harris “multiple times,” He also said he was “not happy about ABC”.
“They’re really trying to make Joe Biden a hero when he’s the worst president in history, and they’ve done things like with Kamala, like she’s running a great thing,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of ABC.”
Then, on Thursday, the Trump campaign said it “would be inappropriate” to schedule a debate with Harris, since she is not yet the official Democratic nominee.
“Due to the ongoing political turmoil surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until the Democrats have formally decided on their nominee,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said. “It would be inappropriate to schedule anything with Harris as the Democrats could still change their mind.”
Neither Trump nor Biden were their party’s official nominees when they debated in June.
ABC News released on Friday its level requirements for the debate, suggesting the network is moving forward with its plans despite Trump’s refusal to commit.
