Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign is not backing down over speculation that former President Donald Trump is allegedly “ducking out” of the next presidential debate.
Campaign Communications Director Michael Tyler said Harris will be at the Sept. 10 debate with or without Trump’s presence. “As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” Tyler said.
“If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘we’ll see you there,’ — and it appears that they are — it’s a convenient but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on September 10th — we’ll see if Trump shows.”
Harris has spent time on social media and during interviews boasting about being more than ready to debate her opponent. On X, she said, she’s ready, so let’s go. “Trump agreed on a September 10th debate. It now appears he’s backpedaling,” she wrote. “Voters deserve to see the split screen that exists on a debate stage. I’m ready. So let’s go.”
Trump agreed on a September 10th debate. It now appears he’s backpedaling.Voters deserve to see the split screen that exists on a debate stage. I’m ready. So let’s go.— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 25, 2024
She expressed the same feelings on an episode of “Jemele Hill Is Unbothered” podcast when Hill asked if she thinks Trump is scared. The former prosecutor simply responded with, “He should be.”
Question: “Do you think Donald Trump is afraid to debate you?”Kamala Harris: “He should be”Enough said. pic.twitter.com/mlIrUcd2iM— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) July 30, 2024
Jason Miller, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign, said during an MSNBC interview, “Of course” the GOP candidate will debate the Democratic nominee, but they are just waiting on the party “to pick who their ultimate nominee is going to be, that needs to be formalized before we go and lock in all the debates.” Host Chris Jansing reminded Miller that Trump agreed to the debates long before the GOP nominee was formalized.
However, Trump seems to be singing a different tune than his team. During an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, the four-time indicted businessman said he doesn’t need to debate her because “everyone already knows everything.” “She wants to defend our police. She wants no bail, she wants no cash…you kill somebody, and we’re going to release you immediately. They call it cashless,” he started out saying.
“And by the way, this has been a horrible thing for our country, but we know where she is. She wants high taxes…”
Before he continued, Ingraham interjected, saying,” Well, they’re going to say you’re afraid of debating her. That’s what they’re going to say.” But Trump decided to turn the tables, stating critics said the same thing about his debate with President Joe Biden. Well, they said that with Biden, too. You know, ‘I was afraid.’ You know I did great with Biden, and I did great in every debate.”
Ingraham: Why not debate Kamala Harris?Trump: Because everyone already knows everythingIngraham: They’re saying you’re afraid of debating herTrump: I’m leading in the polls pic.twitter.com/gmOwg5lzvC— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) July 30, 2024
According to the Associated Press, on a call with reporters in late July 2024, Trump allegedly said he “absolutely” would want to debate Harris at least once. However, Trump has backed out of debates in the past, like all of the 2024 Republican presidential primary debates. Initially, he bailed because he claimed the timing was too early and questioned the venue before ultimately backing out for good.
Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa accused Trump of potentially dodging these debates because he won’t be able to defend his comments on women or an odd claim that the 2024 election will be the last one. “It’s clear from tonight’s question-dodging: He’s scared he’ll have to defend his running mate’s weird attacks on women or his own calls to end elections in America in a debate against the vice president,” Moussa said.
While the Harris team waits on an official yes or no from the Trump campaign, the Democratic Party is preparing to officially nominate her through a roll call vote as early as Aug. 1.