Anika Begay
Then-Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during a debate, Oct. 7, 2020, in Salt Lake City, left, and Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, speaks during a debate, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta.
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Both Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic counterpart, Kamala Harris, have agreed to meet for a debate on September 10, ABC News reported.
The network’s announcement Thursday came shortly after Trump said in a news conference that he had agreed to hold three debates with Harris in September on different networks.
Trump rejoins the ABC debate just days after posting on his social media account that he would not appear on the network, citing a lawsuit he filed. His decision marks a long-awaited moment in an election where the first debate led to a huge shift in the race, with Democratic President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Harris.
“I think it’s very important to have debates,” Trump said Thursday. “I look forward to having debates because I think we need to set the record straight.”
Later Thursday, on the social media site X, Harris wrote: “I heard Donald Trump has fully committed to debating with me on September 10th. I can’t wait.”
At a private fundraiser in Paris on Thursday, Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, said he “can’t wait” to see his wife debate Trump. He was in Paris as the head of the U.S. delegation to the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics.
Fox News has also proposed a debate between Harris and Trump to take place on Sept. 4, and NBC News is looking to air one on Sept. 25. During an appearance in Michigan, Harris said she was “happy to have that conversation” about an additional debate.
Trump has also said he wants his vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance, to discuss Harris’s choice for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on CBS. The network is discussing possible proposed dates for that meeting.
ABC says David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the Sept. 10 debate. That’s the same date Trump and Biden had agreed to hold their second and final debate, before Biden’s decision cast that event into doubt.
Each debate promises to take on extra importance with polls showing a tight race between the former president and the current vice president. While Harris has ridden a wave of enthusiasm among Democrats since inheriting the mantle from Biden, she has yet to appear at a press conference or give an interview to a reporter.
Republicans are already making an issue of this. Vance, in a post on X while Trump was at a press conference Thursday, said Harris was hiding behind a TelePrompter. “It’s been 18 days since she’s taken real questions from the media,” he wrote.
