The Daily Populous Sunday August 4th, 2024 morning edition
Authored by cnn.com and submitted by Spare_Substance5003

Former President Donald Trump said Saturday he would not debate Vice President Kamala Harris at all if she did not agree to attend a new Fox News debate next month, the latest in the public jockeying between the campaigns over when, if ever, the two candidates will meet on stage.

“I’ll see her on September 4th or, I won’t see her at all,” the former president wrote Saturday on his Truth Social platform.

Trump doubled down on that pronouncement at his rally Saturday evening in Georgia, telling attendees, “We’re doing one with Fox, if she shows up.”

“I don’t think she’s going to show up,” he added, claiming the vice president “can read a teleprompter” but can’t speak off the cuff.

Trump’s declaration comes after the former president on Friday night backed out of a planned September 10 debate hosted by ABC News. Trump committed to that event in May, after he and President Joe Biden agreed to move up the debate calendar and exchanged barbs about being willing to debate each other any time, any place.

Harris referenced those boasts on social media Saturday.

“It’s interesting how ‘any time, any place’ becomes ‘one specific time, one specific safe space,’” she wrote. “I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.”

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that it was the source’s understanding that ABC News would provide airtime to whichever candidate showed up – even if that ended up being just Harris. ABC News did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Trump’s call for a debate on his terms, with a “full arena audience,” continues the back-and-forth between the two campaigns as they try to shape the narrative around a potential debate, trading taunts and digs along the way. Trump has attacked his opponent’s intelligence, writing on his social media platform that Harris, who is also a former US senator and California attorney general, doesn’t have the “mental capacity” to debate him.

Harris’ campaign has argued that Trump is afraid to debate her.

Last month, Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris after weeks of pressure from Democrats following his disastrous performance at a June 27 CNN debate. Trump has claimed without evidence that Democrats “staged a coup” to remove Biden from the ticket.

The public exchanges also call into question whether there will be a debate at all. Trump cruised to the Republican nomination earlier this year despite his refusal to appear at any of his party’s primary debates, arguing that he didn’t need to attend because he was a known entity and was leading in the polls. He has made similar remarks in recent days when asked about a debate with Harris.

The former president said Friday night that the ABC News debate could not happen because Biden was no longer the nominee and also because Trump is currently involved in litigation against the network.

Trump filed a defamation suit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos in March after the host of “The Week” said the former president had been found guilty of “rape” in an interview with Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. Trump has been found liable for sexual assault and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll. In January, a court awarded her $83.3 million in damages.

The ABC News lawsuit, however, was filed in March, months before the Trump and Biden campaigns agreed in mid-May on two debates.

The push for a Fox News debate marks the latest goal post-shifting from the Trump campaign since Biden stepped aside nearly two weeks ago.

On July 23, Trump told reporters on a press call that he hadn’t agreed to debate Harris, just Biden.

“But I want to debate her, and she’ll be no different, because they have the same policies,” he said. “I think debating is important for a presidential race, I really do, you sort of have an obligation to debate.”

Two days later, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign said it would not commit to any future debates until the Democratic Party formally announced a nominee, arguing that the party could still change its mind. At that point, Harris had secured pledges for a majority of delegates and no competitive Democrats had said they would run against her.

The Democratic National Committee announced Friday that Harris had secured enough support to win the party nomination a day after delegates began voting virtually to formally nominate a candidate.

On Monday, Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham he would “probably end up debating” Harris but said he could make the case for not showing up as well since they are both well known.

And on Friday morning, hours before he backed out of the ABC News event, Trump told Fox Business he wasn’t sure he wanted to debate Harris.

“I mean, right now I say, ‘Why should I do a debate?’ I’m leading in the polls, and everybody knows her. Everybody knows me,” he said.

Last year, Trump used similar arguments to explain his decision to skip the GOP primary debates, writing on his social media site that the public “knows who I am.”

Harris and her campaign have responded with taunts and calls for him to show up to the debate he committed to with Biden.

“He won’t debate, but he and his running mate sure have a lot to say about me,” Harris told a crowd in Atlanta earlier this week. “Well, Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage, because as the saying goes, ‘If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.’”

This story and headline have been updated.

hskfmn on August 3rd, 2024 at 16:31 UTC »

Trump is now challenging Harris to a September 4th "debate" on FOX. With the added conditions that there will be no fact-checking, and a full live studio audience, because he's addicted to attention and adulation.

As of now, Harris has not agreed to anything other than the already agreed upon September 10th debate on ABC (which Trump himself subsequently backed out of).

EDIT: Response from the Harris team:

“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out. He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10. The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience.

We’re happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to. Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th.”

Galphanore on August 3rd, 2024 at 16:31 UTC »

This is perfect. If Trump wants to hold a weird little conference to celebrate himself on the channel that worships him and pretend it's a debate then let him. Don't take it seriously, he's just a weirdo who is afraid to follow through with his prior agreement to debate anyone who is polling at least 15% on ABC.

It was never an agreement to debate Biden. Don't let Trump pretend otherwise. If RFK was polling at 15% he would be there too.

HagbardCelineHMSH on August 3rd, 2024 at 16:05 UTC »

The fact is, respecting an existing obligation is the norm. Following through on that obligation is the normal thing to do.

Trump is proud of the fact that he is not normal. We have a word for that but it escapes me at the moment.

Edit: And here's another thought: If Trump can't step up to Harris in a pre-arranged debate, how are we supposed to believe he'll step up to Putin if he decides to invade another country. Or if Kim Jong-Un threatens to nuke South Korea again. Or another crisis like Covid for that matter. Real leaders don't get to pick their circumstances. They either step up or step aside. They don't try to weasel out of the situation at hand and make excuses.

Biden showed up to debate even knowing he was sick and that it would reflect poorly on him. He did it anyway. He didn't complain about circumstances or try to avoid them. And when it became apparent he wasn't best suited to represent his party in November, he stepped aside in favor of someone who is.

It's deeply weird to me that people want to make excuses for a man who's so obviously not up to exactly the sort of Challenge the Presidency entails.