US Presidential Debate: US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have finally come to an agreement to hold their first debate on September 10 on ABC, which will be their first face-to-face contest in what polls show is a close race for the White House in November. Trump said he wanted additional debates on September 4 and September 25 that would air on Fox and NBC News.
In a post on X, Harris said she was looking forward to the Sept. 10 debate after Trump "finally committed." She had earlier rejected Trump’s offer to shift the time and place of the presidential debate from September 10 on ABC News to the 4th of the month on Fox News.
Trump and President Joe Biden, who was earlier in the race to the White House again, had agreed in May this year to participate in two presidential debates. The first was held in June on CNN and the second was scheduled to be hosted by ABC News on September 10. After Biden’s withdrawal from the race last month, Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, was declared the 2024 presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party as she won enough votes from Democratic delegates in a virtual roll call.
When was the earlier debate scheduled?
Trump previously suggested he might back out of the ABC after Harris replaced Biden as the candidate. The former President said he would not debate her because she was not the official candidate and described her selection as a "coup". He later agreed to an offer from Fox News to conduct a debate with Vice President Harris on September 4, shifting from the original plan.
"I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th. The debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest," he said.
Harris took to X to turn down the shift in time and place of the debate and said that she would be there at the previously-decided network on September 10. "It’s interesting how “any time, any place” becomes “one specific time, one specific safe space. ” I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there," Harris said.
'Would like to do three debates': Trump
While holding a press conference at his Palm Beach estate in Florida, Trump said, "We’d like to do three debates. We think we should do three debates." This was Trump’s first public appearance since Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Trump called Walz a “radical left man.”
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He repeatedly suggested Harris was not intelligent enough to debate him. Harris, for her part, has tried to goad Trump into debating and told an audience in Atlanta recently that if he had anything to say about her, he should " say it to my face.” The Republican candidate also asserted he has not “recalibrated” his campaign despite facing a new opponent.
He also recognised some changing patterns with his new opponent, acknowledging he may not be as popular with Black women, one of Democrats’ key voting blocs. He expressed a lot of confidence in his support from Black men. “It could be I’ll be affected somewhat with Black females but we’re really doing well,” he said.
Where do Trump and Harris stand?
An Ipsos poll published on Thursday found Harris has widened her lead over Trump since late July. She leads Trump 42 per cent to 37 per cent, compared with a July 22-23 Reuters/Ipsos survey that showed her up 37 per cent to 34 per cent over Trump. Harris and Walz have headlined rallies in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin this week, drawing tens of thousands of attendees in a fresh sign of how her late entry into the race has galvanised Democrats.
Harris' rapid rise has sent Trump's team scrambling to recalibrate its strategy and messaging. Opinion polls show Harris has erased the lead Trump had built over Biden, and Democrats have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars from voters and big donors since she became the party's candidate.
Trump's recent comments on Harris' racial identity, where he suggested to an audience of Black journalists that she was using her Black heritage for political gains, drew widespread condemnation and left donors and aides baffled and alarmed. "She can't do an interview. She's barely competent," Trump said, later again calling her "nasty," a go-to line that he often uses to disparage female critics.
(with inputs from agencies)
