US Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump exchanged insults on Saturday over a prolonged dispute regarding the timing and location of their debate.
The former president has refused to commit to the previously scheduled September 10 debate hosted by ABC News. Instead, he has been pressuring Harris, the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, to agree to an earlier debate on Trump-friendly Fox News.
On Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had arranged with Fox News to hold a debate on September 4, featuring Fox News moderators and a full audience.
In response, the Harris campaign mocked Trump on Saturday for reneging on his commitment to the ABC News debate.
“Donald Trump is running scared, trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to, and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement on Saturday.
Trump cited ongoing litigation with ABC News as creating a “conflict of interest.” Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on September 10. The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime-time national audience,” Tyler added.
Later, Trump fired back on Truth Social, calling Harris a “low IQ individual.”
“Kamala Harris doesn’t have the mental capacity to do a REAL Debate against me, scheduled for September 4th in Pennsylvania,” Trump wrote in another post. “I’ll see her on September 4th or, I won’t see her at all.”
The former president has refused to commit to the previously scheduled September 10 debate hosted by ABC News. Instead, he has been pressuring Harris, the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, to agree to an earlier debate on Trump-friendly Fox News.
On Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had arranged with Fox News to hold a debate on September 4, featuring Fox News moderators and a full audience.
In response, the Harris campaign mocked Trump on Saturday for reneging on his commitment to the ABC News debate.
“Donald Trump is running scared, trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to, and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement on Saturday.
Trump cited ongoing litigation with ABC News as creating a “conflict of interest.” Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on September 10. The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime-time national audience,” Tyler added.
Later, Trump fired back on Truth Social, calling Harris a “low IQ individual.”
“Kamala Harris doesn’t have the mental capacity to do a REAL Debate against me, scheduled for September 4th in Pennsylvania,” Trump wrote in another post. “I’ll see her on September 4th or, I won’t see her at all.”
In May, President Joe Biden and Trump had agreed to two debates on mutually accepted terms: one hosted by CNN on June 27 and the second by ABC News on September 10. However, Biden exited the race following a disastrous debate performance in June, and the Harris campaign has maintained that the terms of the May deal still hold.
After Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris, Trump initially said he would be willing to debate the vice president multiple times.
However, as Harris has gained in the polls and achieved record fundraising, Trump has repeatedly walked back the initial May agreement and hinted at the possibility of skipping the debates altogether.
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