Topline
Former President Donald Trump signaled he is willing to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, in an interview on Fox News on Monday night, but stopped short of fully committing to it despite his insistence last week that he will have “more than one debate” with his presumptive Democratic opponent.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump still has not fully committed to … [+]
Key Facts
During his interview with Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham, Trump was repeatedly asked about his willingness to debate Harris, to which he responded “I want to do a debate” before outlining several reasons why he thinks it’s not necessary.
Trump said everyone knew who he was and “now people know who she is” before accusing Harris of wanting to defund the police and a proponent of “high taxes.”
When Ingraham warned that people may say he is afraid of debating Harris, Trump pushed back, saying he’s leading in all the polls “by a lot” and “leading in all of the swing states”—despite recent surveys showing a close race.
Trump eventually said, “I’ll probably end up debating”, but later added, “I can also make a case for not doing it.”
Trump also took a shot at ABC News, the agreed-upon network for the next presidential debate. “I don’t like rewarding fake news…They’re going to make tens of millions of dollars with this debate. I don’t like ABC.”
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Tangent
During the interview, Trump once again spoke about the way Harris laughed, something he has repeatedly mocked on his campaign trail despite critics pointing out it is a sexist trope. Trump told Ingraham, “She got rid of the laugh, I noticed. I haven’t seen the crazy laugh.” The former president said he thinks someone “convinced her” to get rid of her laughter, adding: “That’s a laugh of a crazy person, but I noticed she’s not using that laugh anymore.” When Ingraham said she liked laughter, Trump interjected “not her laughter.”
News Peg
During his interview, Trump came to the defense of his running mate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, after he came under criticism for his “ childless cat lady” comments. The former president said Vance “has got tremendous support” among people who “like families” and his comments were about families. But Trump insisted this does not mean Vance is against people “that aren’t members of a big and beautiful family with 400 children around and everything else.” When asked about how women without children would perceive Vance’s remarks, Trump said “I think they understand it…The Democrats are good at spinning things differently.”
Key Facts
Last week, Harris mocked Trump’s reticence to debate her and accused him of backpedaling after agreeing to participate in three presidential debates. At the time Trump’s campaign alluded to Harris’ lack of endorsement from former President Barack Obama as a sign that she had not locked down the nomination and Democrats were “still holding out for someone ‘better.’” Obama would endorse Harris just a few hours later. A day before this, Trump had told reporters he is “willing to do more than one debate” with Harris and said presidential candidates have an “obligation” to take part in debates.
Further Reading
Trump Refuses To Debate Until Democrats Formally Decide Nominee—Harris Accuses Him Of Backpedaling (Forbes)
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