Harris and Trump agree to hold two presidential debates
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign announced Thursday that she will hold two televised debates with her Republican rival Donald Trump, while the two vice presidential candidates will face off once, in an effort by the campaign to end the ongoing bickering over the issue.
The candidates had agreed to hold one debate on September 10, and another between their vice presidential candidates on October 1, however, Trump campaign was pushing for two more debates in September, and an additional vice presidential showdown.
“The debate is over,” the Harris campaign said in a statement.
“The Donald Trump campaign has accepted our proposal for three debates — two presidential and one vice presidential”.
Assuming Donald Trump does participate in the September 10 debate, the Harris campaign added, Harris’ running mate Tim Walz would debate Trump’s vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance on October 1, and then there would be another Trump-Harris showdown later in October.
Harris, the first woman to serve as vice president, is seeking to make history by becoming the first woman elected president of the United States, and she is rushing to introduce herself to the public before November 5.
She and Walz will head to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week on the back of strong starts for both, who have managed to reverse Trump’s lead in the polls and draw huge donations and crowds to their rallies.
CBS on Wednesday posted on X that it had offered four potential vice presidential debates in September and October for Walz, the governor of Minnesota, and Vance, the senator from Ohio.
The two candidates accepted the October 1 deadline, which comes after early voting begins in several states, but Vance proposed holding a debate before that on September 18, which CNN offered to host.
He told Fox News earlier that he wouldn’t have one of these phony debates… that don’t have a real audience.
ABC News will host the Harris-Trump debate on September 10 after the former president declined it, citing a legal dispute with its executives.
