Former President Trump has announced his intention to eventually debate the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee and Vice President, Kamala Harris. This comes after he initially refused to commit to participating in the scheduled debates.
In an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday, Trump stated, “Yes, I may eventually debate.” He added, “Debates should take place before voting begins.”
With some states starting their voting processes as early as September, Trump, as the Republican nominee for president, mentioned that he still could “provide reasons not to debate.”
“I want to debate, but I can also say, everyone knows who I am, and now people also know who she is,” Trump said.
Following President Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 election and his endorsement of Harris, the Democratic Party is preparing to nominate Harris as their presidential candidate in the coming days. Encouraged by the party’s unified support, Harris stated last week that she is prepared to debate Trump and criticized him for “backing out” of the debate agreement hosted by ABC News on September 10.
However, Trump’s campaign team has refused to make any commitments. A spokesperson stated that the debate plans “cannot be confirmed until the Democratic Party officially nominates their candidate.”
The debate scheduled by ABC News in September is one of the two debates agreed upon by Trump and Biden before Biden withdrew from the race. In the first debate, Biden suffered a crushing defeat, leading to concerns among Democrats that he would lose to Trump. Under intense pressure, Biden ultimately decided to withdraw from the race and throw his support behind Harris for the campaign.