Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign accused former President Donald Trump of being “scared” to face the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee after Trump said Monday that he could “make a case” to not debate her.
Trump has refused to commit to a debate since the vice president entered the 2024 presidential race. The former president had previously agreed to face President Joe Biden, who stepped aside as the Democratic nominee last week, in a debate hosted by ABC News on September 10.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham pressed Trump on committing to debate Harris during an interview airing on The Ingraham Angle Monday night. The former president told the conservative commentator that he’ll “probably end up debating” but that he “can also make a case for not doing it.”
Harris spokesperson Ammar Moussa released a statement to X, formerly Twitter, later in the night, writing, “Why won’t Donald Trump give a straight answer on debating Vice President Harris?”
“It’s clear from tonight’s question-dodging: he’s scared he’ll have to defend his running mate’s weird attacks on women, or his own calls to end elections in America in a debate against the vice president,” Moussa said, referring to the controversy surrounding Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
Moussa added that Harris “will be on the debate stage September 10th” and that Trump “can show up, or not.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, on Thursday is shown in Washington, D.C., while former President Donald Trump, right, on Wednesday is pictured in Charlotte, North Carolina. Harris’ campaign accused Trump of being “scared” to face…
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images; Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Newsweek emailed Trump’s campaign for comment on Moussa’s statement Monday night.
Ingraham asked the former president on the push from Harris’ team to debate the vice president, adding that Democrats are saying he’s “afraid of debating her.” Trump told Ingraham that he wants “to do a debate, but I can also say this. Everybody knows who I am, and now people know who she is.”
Trump also said that he believes a debate “should take place before the votes start being cast” in the fall. A handful of states are scheduled to open up early voting options before the November 5 Election Day, including Minnesota, where mail and in-person ballots will start being collected by September 20.
“I think it’s very important to do that,” Trump told Ingraham, adding that his answer about committing to a debate “is yes, but I can also make a case for not doing it.”
The former president went on to say that he doesn’t “like rewarding fake news” and called ABC News a “terrible outlet.” Trump has an outstanding defamation case against the network and one of its top anchors, George Stephanopoulos, whom the former president told Ingraham he likes to call “George Slopanopoulos.”
“I don’t like that ABC is going to get rich,” he added.
Trump’s team has cited a number of reasons why he has yet to finalize plans to participate in the September 10 debate. Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign communications director, said in a statement on Thursday that it would be “inappropriate” for the former president to commit to a debate with Harris until after the Democratic Party formally nominates her, adding that the Democrats “very well could still change their minds.”
Harris has earned enough support from Democratic delegates to be considered the party’s presumptive nominee. The Democratic National Convention, where she is expected to be officially nominated, is scheduled to kick off August 15 in Chicago. Trump agreed to a debate against Biden on June 27 before either candidate was officially selected by their party.
The former president has also called for the debate’s host to be changed to Fox News. The network proposed a date to host Harris and Trump on September 17 after the vice president entered the race last week. Neither candidate has accepted the invitation as of Monday.
ABC News told CNN late last week that preparations for the September 10 debate were “full steam ahead” even though Trump had yet to confirm that he will participate.
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