On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters she is ready to debate Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Her comments come four days after President Joe Biden exited the 2024 presidential race on Sunday. After his announcement, he endorsed Harris to run for the Oval Office. Since then, Harris has received numerous endorsements from Democratic Party members.
She is expected to receive the party’s formal nomination at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August. If nominated, she will face former President Trump, who accepted the GOP’s nomination in mid-July, in the presidential race.
“I’m ready to debate Donald Trump. I have agreed to the previously agreed upon September 10 debate,” Harris told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Trump and Biden had initially agreed to two debate dates for the 2024 presidential election: June 27 and September 10.
The June 27 debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta was disastrous for Biden as he stumbled through several answers and appeared to lose his train of thought. His performance fueled concerns about his age and ability to win the election, leading numerous Congress members to call on him to step aside from the race.
The September 10 debate was previously agreed to be hosted by ABC News. As of now, this is the only debate that is scheduled, and more details about the exact location and format remain unclear.
“He [Trump] agreed to that previously. Now, it appears he is backpedaling but I’m ready,” Harris told reporters. She added, “I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on the debate stage.”
Newsweek has reached out to Trump and Harris’ campaign for comment via email on Thursday.
Trump has agreed to debate Harris but has expressed doubt on ABC News as the host.
On Tuesday, he told reporters on a press call organized by the Republican National Committee, “I agreed to debate with Joe Biden. But I want to debate her and she’ll be no different because they have the same policies,” in reference to Harris.
The GOP nominee said, “I would be willing to do more than one debate actually.” However, “I’m not thrilled with ABC,” he said.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, the same day that Biden exited the race, Trump called ABC “very biased,” and said the debate “should be held on FoxNews.”
On Tuesday, Fox News proposed to host a debate between the new matchup on September 17, just one week after. The letter, which was provided to Newsweek by a Fox News spokesperson, suggested holding the debate in Pennsylvania.
It remains unclear when, or if, there will be a vice presidential debate. Harris has yet to select her running mate, while Trump announced Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
