Trump and Harris to debate on ABC in September

“I think it’s very important to have debates,” former president Donald Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago press conference Thursday afternoon, confirming his agreement to three debates against Kamala Harris throughout September on Fox, ABC and NBC. The Harris campaign has only confirmed the ABC debate on September 10, which will be moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis.

Until now, Trump would not commit to a date to debate Harris, saying he could consider skipping it after Biden’s disastrous performance in their previous face-off. The Harris campaign accused Trump of refusing to debate out of fear. Harris “wants to say I don’t want to debate, but I do want to debate,” he added at the presser, his first public appearance since Tim Walz was selected as the Democratic VP candidate. “It’s important to have these debates,” he said, “I hope she agrees to them… they will be very revealing.”

He called out Harris’s legitimacy as the Democratic nominee, saying she “has not received one vote for president.” He defended Joe Biden, saying the Democrats took the “presidency away” from him. “He had the right to run,” Trump added. 

Trump also called Harris out for not holding any press conferences: “She hasn’t done an interview, she can’t do an interview, she’s barely competent.” Harris has not engaged with voters beyond her rallies and statements to journalists on the tarmac while traveling across the country. She has supposedly spoken with reporters off the record while on Air Force Two.

Trump attacked Harris’s past as attorney general of California, saying she “destroyed San Francisco.” The Republican nominee also discussed abortion, which he said has been “tampered down” in this election cycle. He defended the overturning of Roe v. Wade, saying that “everybody” is pleased with the return of abortion rights to individual states. 

He discussed foreign policy and the withdrawal in Afghanistan, emphasizing the “embarrassment” for America. He also claimed that the US has lost Russia, China and North Korea’s respect, and that under his rule the Russia-Ukraine war and October 7 would never have happened, adding that Jews who are voting for the Democrats need to have their “heads checked.”