Donald Trump has threatened to skip any debate with Kamala Harris unless it is hosted by Fox News. The former U.S. president declared he is pulling out of the scheduled ABC debate with Vice President Harris in September and instead wants her to face him on a more MAGA-friendly network, a demand Harris has firmly rejected. Later, in a Truth Social post, Trump launched a harsh critique of the Vice President, questioning her ‘mental capacity’ and raising doubts about her ability to handle such a debate.
Trump demands Fox news debate with Kamala Harris
Harris has been pushing Trump to keep to the planned debate on Sept. 10 on ABC News, which was supposed to be a big clash between Trump and President Biden, after the previous disastrous debate night. However, the Republican nominee said in a Truth Social post the debate would be held in Pennsylvania on Sept. 4 and hosted by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
It’s worth noting that Trump had originally agreed to a debate with Joe Biden on ABC. However, with the Democratic nominee now being Kamala Harris, Trump has opted out of participating on the scheduled network. He also mentioned that his lawsuit against ABC News is a “conflict of interest,” and he’s not keen on taking part in a debate with the network because of it.
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“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. Not fair, but it is what it is! Nevertheless, different Candidate or not, their bad Policies are the same, and this will be strongly revealed at the September 4th Debate,” Trump earlier said.
Trump says, ‘either Fox or no debate at all’
On Saturday, after Kamala Harris’ campaign rejected Donald Trump’s proposal for a debate on his preferred network, Trump took to Truth Social to express his frustration. Trump had suggested holding the debate on September 4th in Pennsylvania with a live audience, mirroring the setup he had with Biden but with more spectators.
In his post, Trump declared, “I’ll see her on September 4th or, I won’t see her at all,” and criticised Harris, claiming she “doesn’t have the mental capacity” to engage in such a debate.
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Team Harris earlier mentioned, “We’re happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to. Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th.”
Why Trump won’t debate Harris on ABC
Trump’s team initially stated that they would not debate Kamala Harris until she was officially confirmed as the Democratic presidential nominee after Joe Biden’s withdrawal. Now, the Republican candidate is asserting that if Harris, the likely nominee, does not agree to debate on his chosen network and date, he will host a “major Town Hall” with Fox News instead.
Meanwhile, Trump seems to be getting more upset with ABC lately. In a recent panel interview, he kept bashing the network, which he had already taken legal action against back in March. The legal battle started after anchor George Stephanopoulos accused Trump of being “responsible for rape.” Even though a jury in New York decided Trump was at fault for sexually harassing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, they didn’t agree with her rape accusation because the state’s legal definition of rape at the time didn’t match up.