Harris Says She Is Ready to Debate Trump

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives to board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on July 24, 2024. Brendan Smialowski/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for president, said she is ready to debate former President Donald Trump and accused him of “backpedaling” on a previously agreed upon debate.

“Many of you have been asking about the debate, and I’ll tell you I’m ready to debate Donald Trump,” the vice president told reporters at Joint Base Andrews after returning from a trip to Indiana and Texas on July 25. “I have agreed to the previously agreed upon September 10 debate. He agreed to that previously, now it appears he’s backpedaling, but I’m ready.”

She continued, saying “I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage. And so, I’m ready, let’s go.”

Former President Trump said in a post on Truth Social earlier this week that the next debate already scheduled with President Joe Biden was set to air on “Fake News ABC” in September, but called for a change after President Biden dropped out of the race and Ms. Harris became the frontrunner candidate.

“Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, has quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC,” the former president said in the Truth Social post.

During a press call held earlier this week, the former president responded to a question about how important it was to debate Ms. Harris and if he would be willing to do the debate on ABC News.

“Well I haven’t agreed to anything,” he said on the call. “I agreed to a debate with Joe Biden, but I want to debate her and she'll be no different, because they have the same policies. I think debating is important for a presidential race, I really do. ... I think if you’re the Democrat nominee or the Republican nominee you really have an obligation to debate, so I think it’s very important.”

Reporters asked the vice president at Joint Base Andrews if she would be willing to do the debate on Fox News instead of ABC but she walked away before giving an answer.

The vice president had earlier in the day pitched herself to the American Federation of Teachers at their 88th national convention in Houston.

“The fact is, unions helped build America’s middle class, and when unions are strong, America is strong,” she told the audience of teachers and administrators.

The prior day she campaigned to some 6,000 members of Zeta Phi Beta, a historically black sorority of which she is a member, at the group’s international convention in Indianapolis on July 24.