Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate and Democratic rival Kamala Harris have agreed to go head to head in September in a debate organized by ABC News.
“ABC News will host qualifying presidential candidates to debate on September 10 on ABC. Vice President Harris and former President Trump have both confirmed they will attend the ABC debate,” the network said in a statement.
Speaking at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said that he was “looking forward” to debating the vice president and that he had agreed to upcoming dates with Fox News, ABC and NBC.
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“I think it’s very important to have debates, and we’ve agreed with Fox on a date of September 4. We’ve agreed with NBC. Fairly full agreement subject to them on September 10. And we’ve agreed with ABC on September 25,” the former president said.
According to the BBC, a senior Trump adviser and an ABC source familiar with the matter both said that the correct dates Trump has agreed to with networks are: September 4 with Fox News, September 10 with ABC and September 25 with NBC.
Trump said “minor details” were still being worked out, including audience and locations.
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Harris, who had previously agreed to the ABC debate, confirmed her participation later Thursday and said she would be “happy” to discuss a further debate.
“I’m glad that he’s finally agreed to a debate on September 10th. I’m looking forward to it, and I hope he shows up,” Harris told reporters before boarding Air Force Two in Detroit after an event with the United Auto Workers.
Asked if she would be open to the other debates mentioned by Trump, Harris said: “I’m happy to have that conversation about an additional debate for after September 10th.”
Echoing a recent attack line from his campaign, Trump criticized Harris for not doing a press interview since launching her campaign.
“She can’t do an interview. She’s barely competent,” Trump said, later again calling her “nasty,” a go-to line that he often uses to disparage female critics.
Trump has conducted a steady stream of media interviews, though they are usually with friendly, right-leaning outlets and reporters. On Wednesday, he called into the “Fox & Friends” morning program and took questions from the program’s hosts.
