Former President Donald Trump says he is willing to debate Vice President Kamala Harris more than once.
On July 23, the former president told reporters on a press call he would “absolutely” agree to a second presidential debate, his first against Ms. Harris, were she to receive the Democratic Party’s nomination. Moreover, he said he'd be willing to commit to multiple debates.
“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,” the former president said. “I think debating is important for a presidential race.”
He added that he has not yet “agreed to anything” regarding a debate with the vice president.
On June 27, former President Trump debated President Joe Biden in a CNN studio in Atlanta. President Biden’s performance raised questions about his ability to challenge former President Trump and created immense political pressure for him to withdraw from the race.
Less than a month later, on July 21, President Biden officially dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president to replace him on the Democratic ticket.
On the press call, former President Trump said he believed the CNN debate “was the end of Biden.”
“The politicians, you can call them elites, in the party ... they gave him a chance, and they said, ‘If you don’t get out now, we’re going to go after you,’ and that was it,” former President Trump said on the call.
President Biden’s departure made him the second president in modern history to not seek his party’s nomination. However, President Biden announced his exit only weeks before August’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago and well after he won the Democratic Party primaries in multiple states. In March 1968, President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek reelection.
On July 22, Ms. Harris secured the support of the necessary number of delegates to make her the likely nominee.
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said on June 23 that the party will proceed with a virtual vote to select the nominee before the convention.
“We WILL have a nominee by the August 7 Ohio Deadline,” Mr. Harrison said on X.
The convention will be held in Chicago, Aug. 19–22.
Before President Biden dropped out, the two major party candidates agreed to two debates. They eschewed the traditional fall schedule and format set by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Instead, they agreed to earlier televised debates organized by broadcast news organizations.
The next debate is scheduled to be held on Sept. 10 and broadcast by ABC News.
Former President Trump said on the call that he is “not thrilled about ABC News” as a host.
