Kamala asked for it. Now all she has to do is not embarrass herself.
On Friday evening, former President Donald Trump confirmed his acceptance of Fox News’ invitation to debate Vice President Kamala Harris. The debate is scheduled to take place on September 4 in Pennsylvania, though the exact venue is yet to be announced.
Trump’s decision follows the cancellation of a previously planned debate against President Biden, who had been set to participate in an ABC News debate before suspending his re-election campaign. Trump cited his ongoing legal battle with ABC and its host, George Stephanopoulos, as the reason for the cancellation.
In a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming debate. “I made a deal with Fox to debate Kamala Harris this September 4th,” Trump wrote. “The debate was originally scheduled against Sleepy Joe on ABC, but that’s canceled due to Biden dropping out and my legal problems with ABC Network and George Stephanopoulos, which created an obvious conflict of interest.”
Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will moderate the debate, and the format will echo the rules used in the June 27 CNN debate with Biden, though this time, there will be an audience present.
Fox News had earlier proposed a debate between Trump and Harris on September 17, but Harris has expressed readiness to debate earlier and criticized Trump for supposedly retracting from the prior agreement to debate Biden on ABC News. Following Biden’s exit from the race, Harris has officially become the Democratic Party’s nominee.
Trump had previously resisted debating Harris due to her not being the official nominee after Biden’s withdrawal. However, with Harris now formally recognized as the Democratic candidate, Trump has accepted the challenge. He criticized the Democrats’ process, describing it as a threat to democratic norms. “The Democrats have unconstitutionally replaced a defeated candidate with a new one, which has never happened before and is a serious threat to our democracy,” Trump stated. “But I am fully prepared to engage with Kamala Harris and showcase the failures of their policies.”
Trump also remarked on the timing of the debate, noting that it precedes the start of Early Voting for the 2024 Presidential Election. “I look forward to meeting and debating Kamala Harris on September 4th in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he concluded.
Additionally, Trump recently experienced a significant security scare, surviving an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.