Former President Donald Trump said in a late-night post online that he “terminated” a previously set debate on ABC, and that he would instead debate Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News.
Trump has been criticized by Harris and other Democrats for refusing to commit to the previously agreed-upon debate on ABC, which was made before President Joe Biden said he was no longer seeking the Democratic nomination.
The ABC debate was scheduled for Sept. 10. There have been days of questions about whether Trump would participate in the ABC debate.
“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,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Harris’ presidential campaign’s rapid-response social media account responded Saturday in a tweet.
Our statement on Donald Trump backing out of the debate he already agreed to pic.twitter.com/r8VrZRI0q8
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 3, 2024
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After Biden decided to not seek the nomination and the presidential race dramatically changed with Harris as the de facto Democratic nominee, Trump said he did not like ABC and suggested a debate on Fox News instead. Some Democrats have said that Trump is afraid of debating Harris.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, made that claim Thursday. “He’s afraid to debate her,” Schumer said.
Trump also said in the post that because he is in litigation against ABC and George Stephanopoulos, there is "a conflict of interest."
The agreed-upon ABC debate between Trump and Biden was announced in May. Trump sued ABC and Stephanopoulos in March, as Reuters reported at the time.
Trump said in his Truth Social post the Fox debate was to be held in Pennsylvania, an important state in the presidential election, and would have a "full arena audience."
A spokesperson for Fox did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment early Saturday.
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