Donald Trump’s newest lame excuse for not debating Kamala Harris just evaporated in a matter of hours.
In a statement released Thursday night, Trump’s campaign explained that they would be putting any future presidential debates on hold.
“Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” said Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung.
In the days following President Joe Biden’s endorsement of Harris, Trump took to Truth Social to air his grievances over the upcoming debate, scheduled for September 10. He seemed to be complaining about the debate’s host, ABC News, to create a context for skipping it all together.
Now Trump has offered a slightly different excuse. Despite the fact that Harris has become the party’s presumptive nominee, officially gaining enough support to snag the nomination next month, the Trump team was still unwilling to move forward with the next debate while Harris lacked support from one specific person.
“There is a strong sense by many in the Democrat party—namely Barack Hussein Obama—that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone ‘better,’” said Cheung. “Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds.”
Harris responded in a post on X (formerly Twitter) by resharing a report about Trump backing out of the debates. “What happened to ‘any time, any place’?” she wrote.
But Trump’s scheme to sidestep debating his new opponent fell flat by Friday morning, when Harris shared a video of her speaking to Obama and his wife, Michelle, on the phone.
“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” said the former president.
Harris thanked them both for their friendship and their support, and promised, “We’re going to have some fun with this too, aren’t we?”
It means so much to have your endorsements, @MichelleObama and @BarackObama.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 26, 2024
Let’s get to work. pic.twitter.com/rAuTyIlCai
Despite Trump’s repeated attempts to avoid going head-to-head with Harris, she has continued to push for a debate on September 10. “Voters deserve to see the split screen that exists on a debate stage,” she wrote in a post on X Thursday. “I’m ready. So let’s go.”
