Now facing Harris, Trump backs out of September debate pledge
Advisers to former President Donald J. Trump said they would not commit to another debate, which they had already agreed to attend, now that Democrats have changed nominees from President Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden and Trump had agreed to two general election debates, the first of which took place on June 27. Biden’s performance was so disastrous that it set off a four-week battle to have him drop out of the race.
The two men agreed months ago to a second debate, to be held on Sept. 10 and hosted by ABC News. Mr. Trump complained at the time that they should have more.
But Mr. Biden announced on Sunday that he was dropping out of the race, and within 48 hours the entire Democratic Party had coalesced around Ms. Harris as the nominee to challenge Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee for a third straight presidential election. The only major Democrat not yet to endorse Ms. Harris — former President Barack Obama — is expected to do so soon. Ms. Harris’s team is in the early stages of vetting potential running mates.
Nevertheless, in a statement issued Thursday night, Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung insisted that there was “ongoing political chaos surrounding” Biden and the Democrats, so “the details of the general election debate cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee.”
The statement continued that many in the Democratic Party — including Obama — believe Ms. Harris cannot beat Mr. Trump and that “they are still waiting for someone ‘better.’” The statement added: “Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule business with Harris, as Democrats could still change their minds.”
The statement came hours after Ms. Harris recommitted to the ABC News debate. “I think voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on the debate stage,” she told reporters at Joint Base Andrews after a trip to Texas and Indiana, saying Mr. Trump had “shied away” from the debate.
After the Trump campaign released its statement, Ms. Harris posted on the social media website X: “What happened to ‘any time, any place?’” referring to Trump’s previous insistence that he would debate Biden whenever and wherever.
Mr. Trump first hinted Sunday that he was reconsidering whether to participate in the next debate after Mr. Biden announced he was dropping out of the race. Mr. Trump suggested moving the ABC News debate to Fox News, whose prime-time hosts have been very friendly to Mr. Trump.
Fox news later proposed a debate on September 17.
“Well, I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” Trump told reporters on a call this week hosted by the Republican National Committee. “I’ve agreed to debate Joe Biden. But I want to debate her, and she’s not going to be any different because they have the same policies.”
Another Trump adviser, Jason Miller, told Axios there should be “multiple debates,” but he also dismissed the notion that the ABC News debate was set in stone.
A New York Times/Siena College poll released on Thursday showed Democrats rallying around Ms. Harris, helping narrow the gap between Trump and Biden. The poll found Trump and Harris virtually tied, with him leading among likely voters by one percentage point, 48 percent to 47 percent.
Michael Gold contributed to the reporting.
