Harris disagrees with Trump's suggestion to have a live audience debate her on FOX
Reuters -On September 4, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested debating Democratic U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News. The Harris campaign claimed that Trump was attempting to back out of an ABC-scheduled debate.
According to a post made by Trump on Truth Social late Friday, the guidelines would be comparable to those of the first debate with President Joe Biden, who has since withdrawn his candidacy for reelection. Trump said that it would take place in Pennsylvania, a battleground state, and have a "full arena audience" this time.
The former president had urged that the second debate be shifted to Fox, the network that his supporters are most devoted to, but Biden and Trump had already committed to a second discussion on ABC News on September 10.
Michael Tyler, a spokesman for Harris, claimed that Trump is "running scared" and that her campaign is open to talking about further debates beyond the one on September 10 that "both campaigns have already agreed to."
In an interview with Truth Social on Saturday, Trump stated that Harris is "afraid to do it" along with he is going to see her on September 4 "or I won't be seeing her at all."
Recent polls show a tight contest between Harris and Trump, who had enjoyed a bigger lead over Biden after the first debate.
ABC News had no comment about whether Trump had dropped out of the debate, a spokesperson said.
Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump's proposal for the debate on Fox came right after the Democratic National Committee launched an advertising campaign Friday taunting him by saying "the convicted felon is afraid to debate" and questioning whether that is due to his stance on abortion.
David Plouffe, an adviser to former President Barack Obama who recently joined the Harris campaign, posted on social media: "Now, he seems only comfortable in a cocoon, asking his happy place Fox to host a Trump rally and call it a debate. Maybe he can only handle debating someone his own age."
He declared on Friday that Biden would no longer be participating in the ABC debate and that the debate had been "terminated" since he was still involved in legal proceedings with ABC.
While outlining the qualifications for the debate on July 26, ABC did not specifically name any of the contenders.
By September 3, proof of polling support and access to state ballots are required.
Harris and Trump are in a close race according to recent surveys; Trump had a larger lead over Biden following the first debate.
A representative for ABC News stated that the network had no comment on whether or not Trump had left the debate.
An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Fox News.
Following the Democratic National Committee's Friday ad campaign that mocked him by claiming that "the convicted felon is afraid to debate" and asked whether this was because of his views on abortion, Trump made his suggestion for the Fox debate.
"Now, he appears only satisfied in a cocoon, asking his delighted place Fox to host a Trump rally and call it a debate," wrote David Plouffe, a former Obama advisor who recently joined the Harris team, on social media. Perhaps he's limited to debate opponents who are the same age as him.
Harris is59, while Trump is 78.
