If the last several weeks in American politics have proved anything, it’s that presidential debates really can matter. Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in his debate against Donald Trump on June 27 precipitated his exit from the presidential race. Now, there’s a new presumptive Democratic nominee, but it’s not yet clear if and when Kamala Harris and Trump will face off on a debate stage — and there’s already been some drama around the issue. Below is what we know about the new debate about another debate.
Will there be a debate between Harris and Trump, and if so, when?
We don’t know yet. Both candidates have said they want to debate each other but have not mutually agreed to any specific plan to do so.
What’s going on with the previously scheduled (Trump-Biden) debate on September 10?
Before Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, the only other presidential debate he and Trump had agreed to was planned for September 10, hosted by ABC. Now that Biden is no longer running, Harris has committed to attending that debate, but Trump has indicated he will not. After Harris emerged as the presumptive nominee, Trump initially said that the debate should be moved to Fox News and later told reporters that he was “not thrilled” about participating in a debate hosted by ABC. His campaign later backed out completely.
What Trump and his campaign have said about debating Harris
On July 23, the day after Harris quickly established herself as the Democratic Party’s new presumptive nominee, Trump told reporters that “I haven’t agreed to anything” regarding debating Harris. “I agreed to debate with Joe Biden.”
He insisted he would “absolutely” debate Harris. “I want to debate her, and she’ll be no different because they have the same policies,” he said. “I would be willing to do more than one debate, actually,” he also said.
Trump adviser Jason Miller told Axios on Thursday, July 25, that “a [Trump-Harris] debate will happen” and also called for “multiple debates” — but that “I’m not sure it will be ABC.”
Later that day, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the campaign would not agree any specifics regarding a debate with Harris until she was officially the Democratic nominee. Cheung’s statement doubled as a multipronged attack on Democrats and Harris, and he echoed the far-fetched speculation on the right that former president Barack Obama didn’t support Harris:
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. 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.” Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds.
Obama’s endorsement was already imminent at that time and was officially announced on Friday morning.
What Harris and her campaign have said about debating Trump
Kamala Harris has committed to participating in the previously scheduled September 10 debate — and she and her campaign have repeatedly called out Trump.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Harris said she was “ready” to debate Trump, that “voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race,” and she said that Trump “appears to be backpedaling”:
I’ll tell you, I’m ready to debate Donald Trump. I have agreed to the previously agreed upon September 10th debate, he agreed to that previously. Now it appears he’s backpedaling. But I’m ready. And I think that the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage and so, I’m ready. Let’s go.
After the Trump campaign backed out of any debate planning on Thursday night, Harris tweeted, “What happened to ‘any time, any place’?”
What happened to “any time, any place”? https://t.co/HlR6UmlZxx
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 26, 2024
On Friday, the Harris campaign sent out a press release titled “Many People Are Saying: Donald Trump Is Scared to Debate Kamala Harris.”
Have any other debates been proposed?
Fox News wants to host one on Tuesday, September 17, hosted by Bret Baier and Martha MacCullum, and has already sent invitations to the Trump and Harris campaigns. It has proposed the debate be held in Pennsylvania, but said in the invitation letter that the date, location, and format were all negotiable. Fox News proposed the idea after Trump said he would prefer Fox News host their September 10 debate instead of ABC. Neither campaign has publicly responded to Fox News’ offer.
Will there be multiple debates between Trump and Harris?
That’s not yet clear.
Trump adviser Jason Miller has told Axios that “there should be multiple debates” and that the Trump team thinks “there should be some diversification in the outlets for who hosts a debate.” That includes a Spanish-language network
“I think the public would be sold short if we only did one debate against Kamala Harris in the general election,” Miller said.
