Game on: ABC News says Harris, Trump have agreed to presidential debate on Sept. 10
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during a debate, Oct. 7, 2020, in Salt Lake City, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a debate, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo)
ABC News says that both Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic counterpart, Kamala Harris, have agreed to meet in a debate on Sept. 10.
The network’s announcement on Thursday came shortly after Trump told a news conference that he had agreed to three debates with Harris in September on separate networks.
Trump is rejoining the ABC debate days after posting on his social media network that he would not appear on the network, citing a lawsuit he has filed. His decision sets up a highly anticipated moment in an election where the first debate led to a massive change in the race — with Democratic President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Harris.
“I think it’s very important to have debates,” Trump said Thursday. “I look forward to the debates because I think we have to set the record straight.”
On the social media site X later on Thursday, Harris wrote that “I hear that Donald Trump has fully committed to debating me on September 10. I look forward to it.”
At a private fundraiser in Paris on Thursday, Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, said he “cannot wait” to see his wife debate Trump. He was in Paris as head of the U.S. delegation to the Summer Olympics closing ceremony.
Fox News has also proposed a debate between Harris and Trump to take place on Sept. 4, and NBC News is angling to air one on Sept. 25. During an appearance in Michigan, Harris said she was “happy to have that conversation” about an additional debate.
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Trump also said he wants his vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, to debate Harris’ choice for veep, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on CBS. The network is discussing potential dates to propose for that meeting.
ABC says that David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the Sept. 10 contest. That’s the same date that Trump and Biden had agreed to their second and final debate, before Biden’s decision put that event in doubt.
Any debate promises to take on extra importance with polls showing a tight race between the former president and current vice president. While Harris has ridden a wave of excitement among Democrats since inheriting the mantle from Biden, she has yet to appear at a news conference or give an interview to a journalist.
Republicans are already making that an issue. Vance, in a post on X as Trump was in his news conference on Thursday, said Harris was hiding behind a TelePrompter. “It’s been 18 days since she answered real questions from the media,” he wrote.
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Associated Press writers Jocelyn Noveck in Paris and Darlene Superville in Romulus, Mich. contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://twitter.com/dbauder.