US Presidential Elections: United States Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday that she is ready to take on former President Donald Trump in a presidential debate ahead of the November 5 polls. This comes days after US President Joe Biden dropped out of the race to the White House and endorsed Harris as his successor.
The US Vice-President accused Trump of “backpedalling” away from a previous agreement for a debate hosted by ABC News on September 10. “I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on the debate stage,” she said after landing at Joint Base Andrews after completing a trip to Indiana and Texas, as quoted by news agency AP.
On the other hand, the Trump campaign later in the day said that it cannot give a commitment to a presidential debate with Harris until Democrats make a formal announcement on their nominee for the top post.
“Given the continued political chaos surrounding crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalised until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a late-night statement.
“There is a strong sense by many in the Democrat Party—namely Barack Hussein Obama—that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone “better.” Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds,” Cheung said.
Trump was declared the Republican party nominee at its convention in Milwaukee this month, while Harris is all set to be declared the party’s nominee at its convention in Chicago in August.
Trump Is Backpedalling, Says Harris
Speaking to reporters, Harris said, “You have been asking me about the debate and I’ll tell you I’m ready to debate Donald Trump. I have agreed to the previously agreed upon September 10 debate”.
“He (Trump) agreed to that previously. Now here he is backpedaling and I’m ready and I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage. And so I’m ready to go,” she further stated.
US Presidential Debates
Donald Trump and Joe Biden had previously agreed to two debates on June 27 and September 10. Biden’s poor performance in the first debate in Atlanta on June 27 ultimately led him to quit the race three weeks later after being put under pressure by fellow party leaders and fundraisers.
The September 10 debate was previously agreed to be hosted by ABC News. The June 27 debate was hosted by CNN. Earlier this week, Trump had told reporters that he had agreed to a debate with Biden but was ready to debate Harris.
“But I want to debate with her and she’ll be no different because they have the same policies. I would be willing to do more than one debate actually,” he said, as quoted by news agency PTI. He further stated that he was not thrilled with ABC News.