Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have agreed to debate one another on ABC on Sept. 10, the network said on Aug. 8.
“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,” an ABC News spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
Harris was officially nominated for president by the Democratic Party late on Aug. 5 after securing enough delegate support ahead of the party’s Aug. 19 to 22 convention in Chicago.
Trump and Harris have yet to debate, and the former president said on Aug. 3 that he wouldn’t debate on ABC because of a “conflict of interest” regarding a lawsuit that he had filed against network news host George Stephanopoulos. That lawsuit was filed in March before Trump agreed to debate President Joe Biden on the network in May, two months prior to the president’s exit from the race.
In an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Aug. 7, Trump seemed to suggest that he might debate on ABC despite the lawsuit.
“Well, you can use that as an excuse. I could use that. I’ve said that—is there a conflict? You know, there might be,” Trump said.
“But they’re going to have, I guess, David Muir is going to be the host; you have all the hosts are pretty much named, you have Bret and Martha, and they’re great, and I’d love to see it on Fox but, you know, it takes two to tango.”
During a news conference on Aug. 8 at his Mar-a-Lago Club, Trump said he would like to debate Harris on Fox on Sept. 4, on ABC on Sept. 10, and on NBC on Sept. 25. The Trump campaign confirmed the dates to The Epoch Times.
It’s unclear if Harris will agree to the other two suggested dates. The Harris campaign didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Harris stopped to speak with reporters on Aug. 8 outside Air Force Two before heading to Arizona for a Phoenix rally the following day. She did not commit to a Fox debate with Trump on Sept. 4, and suggested she might not take the stage with the former president prior to the Sept. 10 ABC debate.
“I am happy to have that conversation about an additional debate, or after September 10, for sure,” the vice president said.
“I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there,” she said.
In a follow-up email, an ABC spokesperson said that news hosts David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the 90-minute debate, which will be available for simulcast. The other rules and conditions have not yet been confirmed.
When Trump and Biden agreed in May to debate on CNN and ABC, CNN stipulated that candidates must receive at least 15 percent of support in two qualifying national polls to make the stage.
Candidates’ names would also have to appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win the general election—a criteria met by both the Republican and Democrat parties.
During the CNN debate, each candidate had a muted microphone while the other was speaking. There were also two commercial breaks, no live audience, no opening statements, and strict time cutoffs for responses. The candidates were allowed a pen, notepad, and a bottle of water on stage, and couldn’t use pre-prepared notes.
