US Vice President Kamala Harris and her election opponent Donald Trump want to face each other in a televised debate on September 10. This was announced on Thursday (local time) by the broadcaster ABC, where the debate will take place. “Vice President Harris and former President Trump have both confirmed that they will participate,” the broadcaster announced on the online service X.
Trump had recently proposed three televised debates with Harris next month at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida – on September 4, 10 and 25.
However, he had named NBC and not ABC as the broadcaster hosting the debate on September 10. Trump’s team later noted that he had made a mistake and that they had spoken to ABC about the September 10 date. Harris responded on Thursday that she was looking forward to facing Trump on ABC on September 10.
It was initially unclear whether there would be just one debate between the two presidential candidates in September, as announced by ABC, or three. There were no initial announcements from NBC or Fox News, the channel Trump had named for the proposed debate on September 4.
A few days ago, there was a heated exchange between Trump and the Harris team over the TV debates. Before incumbent Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race – a consequence of the debate about his mental state, which was triggered by his disastrous performance in the TV debate with Trump at the end of June – a second debate on ABC had already been agreed for September 10.
However, Republican Trump initially refused to run against Harris as the new Democratic presidential candidate on this date and instead proposed a debate on September 4 on the right-wing channel Fox News, which is well-disposed towards him. The Harris campaign then accused Trump of being “afraid” and of wanting to “avoid” the debate. Trump now obviously wanted to refute this accusation with his proposal of three debates.
Trump, meanwhile, attacked Harris again. In Florida, he said Harris “hasn’t given a single interview – she can’t give an interview, she’s hardly competent.” But he was looking forward to the duels because things had to be set right.
Harris said later Thursday that she had spoken with her team. “I would like us to set up an interview before the end of the month.” Harris has taken almost no questions from reporters since entering the race for the White House. Even before his press conference, Trump had tried to make this a campaign issue.
Meanwhile, Trump also commented at the press conference on the transfer of power after the presidential election in November. “Of course there will be a peaceful transfer of power, like last time,” said the Republican. “I just hope we will have honest elections.”
Most recently, Biden and Harris warned of a threat to democracy posed by Trump. In an interview with CBS published on Wednesday, Biden said he was “not sure” that there would be a peaceful transfer of power if Trump were to lose.
Harris also described a possible second term for Trump as a threat to democracy during a campaign appearance in the state of Wisconsin on Wednesday. She referred to a statement by Trump that he would become a dictator on “day one” after an election victory in November, as well as his threat to use the Justice Department against his political enemies.
Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol after his election defeat on January 6, 2021, to prevent an official confirmation of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 presidential election. For weeks, Trump had spread the false claim that he had been deprived of a second term due to massive electoral fraud. Shortly before the storming of the Capitol, the right-wing populist called on his supporters in a speech to march to the Capitol and fight “like hell”.
