Donald Trump appears to be laying the groundwork to, once again, escape debating Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a late-night post to Truth Social, Trump questioned why he would participate in the September 10 debate on ABC, which he agreed to earlier this month while announcing his intention to participate in two other debates, as well.
“I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl’s(K?) ridiculous and biased interview of Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?” Trump wrote. “Will panelist Donna Brazil give the questions to the Marxist Candidate like she did for Crooked Hillary Clinton? Will Kamala’s best friend, who heads up ABC, do likewise.”
“Where is Liddle’ George Slopadopolus hanging out now?” he continued. “Will he be involved. They’ve got a lot of questions to answer!!! Why did Harris turn down Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN? Stay tuned!!!”
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins said she was unsurprised by the development. Speaking on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, Collins shared that sources close to Trump had revealed that the former president is “really struggling” with the idea of going up against the former prosecutor.
“I still think it’s an open question, whether or not it happens,” Collins said. “I think Trump is nervous about it. I think Trump—I talk to a lot of sources in his world. I think he has really struggled with it. It’s not just a narrative or a talking point from Democrats. He really has struggled with how to combat her.”
But actually failing to participate could be visually catastrophic for the supposed strongman candidate.
“I think it’s difficult, if not impossible, for him to pull out because his campaign manager had cards printed that said ‘anywhere, time, any place’ for President Biden,” Collins continued. “And it would look weak. But I don’t think he’s looking forward to it at this point.”
The announcement is the second time in a matter of weeks that Trump has reversed course on debating Harris. Earlier this month, Trump said that he had “terminated” the September 10 ABC News showdown over the fact that the Democratic nominee had changed when he had only agreed to debate “Sleepy Joe Biden.” In its place, Trump offered an alternative debate on Fox News in front of a live crowd, which Harris’s campaign did not sign up to.
But that didn’t go over well with his base. In the following days, Second Amendment activists and white supremacists pulled support from the MAGA nominee, and Truth Social users got the hashtag “#TrumpIsACoward” trending on the Trumpian platform after the news broke.
As of time of publication, “#TrumpIsACoward” is trending on X (formerly Twitter).
