Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had accepted an offer from Fox News to debate Vice President Kamala Harris on September 4.
“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 said. The former president initially spoke of a crowd being present during the debate but given the passions of both candidate's followers, that.s not likely. Trump deleted the reference to a live audience when he reposted to Truth Social a few minutes later.
Harris has been taunting Trump for days, accusing him of not wanting to debate her. Trump has been toying with Harris about whether he would even debate her because she wasn't an "official" candidate.
While Harris has yet to accept the September 4 date, she can hardly turn it down after calling Trump a coward. Where it will take place and what other ground rules would be in play need to be worked out.
According to Mr. Trump’s post on his social media site, Truth Social, the debate would take place at a to-be-determined location in Pennsylvania, one of the most consequential battleground states. Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum would moderate.
It was unclear early Saturday whether Ms. Harris had agreed to the debate and its terms. Representatives of her campaign did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Fox News also did not respond to questions.
Trump has been trolling Harris and the Democrats on the vice president's legitimacy as a presidential candidate, complaining about the Democrats dumping Biden.
Trump backed out of a previously scheduled debate on ABC for September 10. At the time he complained that Harris wasn't an official candidate. He also claimed it would be a conflict of interest because he's suing ABC for defamation.
“I spent Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, Time, and Effort fighting Joe, and when I won the Debate, they threw a new Candidate into the ring,” Mr. Trump said on his social media site on Friday,
Trump is certain to use the debate to tie Harris to Biden's unpopular policies. He is likely to have the best success in connecting Harris to the crisis at the border, but with a recession possibly looming, it will be hard for her to escape responsibility for a souring economy.
Trump's proposal for the debate on Fox came right after the Democratic National Committee launched an advertising campaign on Friday taunting him by saying "the convicted felon is afraid to debate" and questioning whether that is due to his stance on abortion.
After Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and backed Harris, Trump said he would not debate her because she was not the official candidate.
On Friday, Harris secured the delegate votes needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.
Harris had responded last month that she was "ready" after Fox News proposed the presidential debate between the two candidates on Sept. 17.
It's not certain that the debate will go forward with two mercurial candidates yet to agree on a host of issues. But Harris needs this debate more than Trump, which should facilitate a deal.
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