ABC News has revealed that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will debate live on September 10 for the first time.
The event is anticipated to attract a sizable audience and may prove to be crucial for both candidates in what polls show to be an incredibly close contest.
“September 10 is our scheduled debate date, and I am excited to take on Donald Trump. I’m excited about it, and I understand he’s finally committed to it,” the vice president said to reporters on Thursday while they were in Michigan.
The former president had previously committed to face Joe Biden on ABC News, but Trump hinted that he would withdraw when the president withdrew from his reelection bid.
He later retracted, claiming he was willing to debate Harris three times in September on ABC, Fox News, and NBC, during a long-winded news conference on Thursday.
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In a statement, ABC News declared that it will “host qualifying presidential candidates to debate on ABC on September 10th.” Both former President Trump and Vice President Harris have declared their intention to attend the ABC debate.
Although Harris told reporters, “I am happy to have that conversation about an additional debate or after September 10, for sure,” she had not committed to any further NBC or Fox debates.
Nearly 51 million people watched Trump and Biden’s first presidential debate in June. It was during his shaky performance at the event that Biden’s candidacy began to unravel. Over the course of the following month, Trump escaped an attempted assassination, Biden resigned, and Harris emerged as the Democratic front-runner, sparking a rapidly intensifying campaign.
In crucial swing states, Harris has gained ground on Biden, often even surpassing her opponent in surveys. Harris led Trump by 42% to 37% in an Ipsos survey released on Thursday. This is in contrast to a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted on July 22–23, which showed Harris leading Trump by 37% to 34%.
Due to Harris’s quick rise to prominence, the Trump campaign is finding it difficult to formulate a cogent attack strategy against her. In his first public appearance since Harris announced that she would be running with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, Trump mispronounced Harris’s name multiple times on Thursday, raised concerns about her race, and made a number of absurd and false statements regarding the economy, the Biden administration’s record, and himself.
