Former President Donald Trump announced late Monday evening that he will participate in a televised town hall event hosted by Fox News next month, as Vice President Harris’ campaign team has made it clear she will not partake in debates organized by the network.
In a post on his social media platform “Truth Social,” Trump stated, “Unlike the scheduled debate on September 4th, I have agreed to participate in the Fox News town hall event hosted by Sean Hannity. The meeting will take place in the great state of Pennsylvania, with details to be announced later!”
Trump expressed that he was “not surprised” upon learning that Harris declined Fox News debates, believing that she would find it challenging to defend her constantly shifting positions and beliefs.
Previously, Trump had planned to hold two presidential candidate debates on September 4th and September 25th, one on Fox News and the other on NBC. However, his campaign team confirmed that these debates might transform into town hall events instead.
Last week, Harris’ campaign team announced their participation in three debates for this election season: two presidential debates and one vice presidential debate.
Harris and Trump have agreed to a debate on September 10th, hosted by ABC, marking their first face-to-face confrontation.
Despite Trump’s concerns over potential conflicts of interest with the network, as he had accused them of defamation, the former president eventually agreed to let the network host the debate.
Following the September 10th showdown, Harris’ campaign team will decide whether to proceed with a second presidential debate in October.
Additionally, both sides have confirmed a vice presidential debate between Senator JD Vance (R-OH) and Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) on October 1st.
Initially, Trump had agreed to two debates with President Biden on June 27th and September 10th. However, the first debate held by CNN reshaped the campaign landscape, leading to calls for Biden to withdraw from the Democratic nomination race. Biden announced his withdrawal in late July and endorsed Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.
According to a new poll conducted by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research from August 8th to 12th, 48% of American adults have a favorable or somewhat favorable view of Harris, surpassing the 41% favorability of Trump and the 38% favorability Biden held before his withdrawal from the race.