The stage has finally been set for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to go head-to-head in their first television debate of the 2024 presidential campaign, with both sides now agreeing to the September 10 event hosted by ABC News.
The Republican presidential nominee has already squared up to President Joe Biden once on the debate stage this summer in the CNN-moderated event in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27 which went so badly for Biden that it ultimately led to him stepping aside from the race and Harris taking up the mantle.
Since then, Trump and Harris have come to blows over when and where they will take to the stage for presidential debates.
The September 10 debate was already planned between the Biden campaign and Trump campaign and so when Harris took the helm of the Democratic party ticket she said she would honor that plan.
But Trump backed out of the commitment, refusing to say he debate Harris then – or at all.
This prompted her to accuse him of “backpedalling” and troll him online by using his own words against him when she demanded to know: “What happened to ‘any time, any place’?”
Last week, Trump responded by annoucing he had made his own arrangments for a new debate on Fox News on September 4.
“The debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest,” he claimed.
The Harris campaign urged him to “stop playing games”, accusing him of “running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out”.
Harris refused to accept the Fox News debate and vowed that “one way or the other” she would take the stage on September 10 – with or without Trump.
Now, it seems that Trump has finally backed down and agreed to honor the debate that had been in the diary all along.
Speaking at a lie-filled press conference at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Thursday, Trump confirmed he would appear at the ABC News debate.
“We have spoken to the heads of the network, and it’s all been confirmed, other than some fairly minor details,” he said.
However, he also threw two more debates at Harris: one on Fox News on September 4 and another on NBC News on September 25.
Asked about the prospect of Harris agreeing to all three, Trump answered: “I don’t know how that’s gonna work out. We’d like to do three debates. We think we should do three debates.”
Harris later responded on social media by saying: “I hear that Donald Trump has finally committed to debating me on September 10. I look forward to it.”
She made no mention of the September 4 and Septeember 25 dates and so it remains unclear if they will go ahead.
Details about the ABC News showdown are currently scarce, with no venue, format or moderators yet announced, although journalists Linsey Davis and David Muir had been set to host the earlier debate scheduled with Biden.
It is also unclear if the debate will include livee fact-checking. The CNN debate between Trump and Biden came under fire for its lack of on-the-spot fact-checking from moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
While at least one presidential debate is now finally in the diary, nothing is currently slated for the two vice presidential candidates.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has already spoken of his desire to take on Trump’s deputy JD Vance, saying on Tuesday: “I can’t wait to debate the guy… That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
A vice presidential debate had been mooted for August 13 on CBS News but nothing is yet confirmed.