Donald Trump said he will debate Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC.
On Thursday, Aug. 8, the former president, 78, held a press conference and announced he intends to debate the new Democratic presidential nominee in September.
“I think it’s very important to have debates, and we’ve agreed with Fox on a date of Sept. 4. We’ve agreed with NBC. Fairly full agreement subject to them on Sept. 10. And we’ve agreed with ABC on Sept. 25,” said the Republican candidate.
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The Trump campaign later clarified on X, formerly Twitter, that the correct dates for the debates would be “Fox News on Sept. 4, ABC on Sept. 10, and NBC on Sept. 25.”
In addition to ABC announcing that Trump had accepted their offer to debate Harris on Sept. 10, Harris, 59, confirmed that she would be at the debate while speaking to reporters on Thursday.
“Well, I’m glad that he’s finally agreed to a debate on Sept. 10. I’m looking forward to it. Hope he shows up,” she told reporters on the tarmac in Michigan on Thursday, per NBC News.
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Harris also addressed the announcement on X writing, “I hear that Donald Trump has finally committed to debating me on September 10. I look forward to it.”
In his press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said that while his campaign has spoken to the heads of the networks, some “fairly minor details,” including the audiences and locations, were still being worked on.
The Sept. 10 ABC debate date was originally agreed upon between Trump and President Joe Biden in May, before Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. Trump claimed on his Truth Socialplatform on Friday, Aug. 2, that his ABC News debate was “terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant.”
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In his post, Trump cited his decision not to participate as a “conflict of interest,” writing that he’s “in litigation against ABC Network” and George Stephanopoulos.
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Trump filed a lawsuit against Stephanopoulos and ABC in March, claiming that the television personality defamed him during an interview when he used the word “rape” when mentioning him being found liable for sexually abusing and defaming former Elle advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in a civil trial last year.
Before Biden, 81, withdrew from the race, he and Trump agreed to two debates. The first was on June 27 and aired on CNN, and the second was the scheduled Sept. 10 debate on ABC. The president’s halting performance during the June debate led to questions about his chances in November. On July 21, Biden announced his withdrawal from the race and endorsed Harris.
