Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has rejected her Republican rival Donald Trump’s offer to move the presidential debate to Fox News Channel, media reports said on Sunday.
Trump, 78, and President Joe Biden – who was then running for the White House – agreed in May to participate in two presidential debates. The first was hosted by CNN in June, and the second – to be hosted by ABC News – was scheduled for September 10.
After Biden withdrew from the race last month, Vice President Harris, who is of Indian and African descent, was declared the ruling Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee after winning enough votes from Democratic delegates in a virtual roll call.
On Saturday, Trump said he had agreed to Fox News’ offer to debate Vice President Harris on September 4, a departure from the original plan, CBS News reported.
He said, “I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4. This debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but it has been canceled because Biden will no longer be a participant in it, and I am suing the ABC network and George Slopadopoulos, creating a conflict of interest.”
Meanwhile, Harris took to Fox News to take aim at Trump’s debate offer.
“It’s interesting how “any time, any place” becomes “a specific time, a specific safe place.” I will be there on September 10, as they have agreed. I hope to see them there,” Harris said.
The Harris campaign also said it would stick to the original plan for the ABC News debate.
According to the report, it said that “Donald Trump is scared” and hopes Fox News will “save” him from the debate he had already agreed to with ABC News.
“She should stop playing games and attend the September 10 debate, which she has already committed to,” Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler was quoted as saying in the report.
“The vice president will be there in some way or another to take advantage of the opportunity to address a prime-time national audience,” Tyler said. He said the campaign is open to discussing further debates, but only if the debates the two campaigns have already agreed upon take place.
Last month, Harris challenged Trump to a debate, urging him to say whatever he wanted to “to her face.”
Harris will face Trump in the general election on November 5.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
