Trump claimed ABC moderators were unfair during Tuesday's debate and was initially reluctant to commit to participating in another debate, NBC News reported.
Former President Donald Trump confirmed Thursday that he has no intention of facing off against Democratic rival Kamala Harris in another debate. "Pretty much everything has been discussed, and you just want to get on with your business," the former president said in an interview Thursday. "We just didn't think it was necessary," Trump said of his decision in an interview Thursday with Telemundo Arizona, also owned by NBC Universal.
We already have two of them.” This was an apparent reference to his June debate with President Joe Biden. He added: “We thought we’d discussed everything. We didn’t think they wanted it either,” and suggested Harris “should go out and run the country instead of worrying about debates.”
Harris said at a rally in North Carolina on Thursday that she and Trump "owe" voters another debate. "Two days ago, Donald Trump and I had our first debate, and I think we owe it to the voters to have another debate because of the importance of this election and the stakes," Harris said.
Trump first said in a post on Truth Social that he would refuse to participate in future debates, writing in one post, "There will not be a 3rd debate!" and criticizing the vice president's debate performance. When asked by NBC News to clarify Trump's comments, Carolyn Levitt said in a statement, "You heard what he said."
Just two days before he made those comments, he and Harris took part in a prime-time debate in Philadelphia sponsored by ABC News. The two sparred over inflation, abortion and immigration, with Trump making multiple false or misleading claims that were fact-checked on the spot by moderators David Moore and Lindsey Davis. Trump used conspiracy theories and inflammatory rhetoric, sparking concerns among allies. Trump claimed the moderators were unfair and was initially reluctant to participate in another face-off with Harris.
The two candidates have not formally agreed to any other debates, but multiple networks have said they are in talks to schedule them. Trump has said in multiple posts on TruthSocial that he is considering debate invitations from Fox, CBS and NBC. Last month, NBC confirmed that it had invited Trump to debate on Sept. 25.
In an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, host Steve Doocy said the network offered the Trump and Harris campaigns three potential dates in October for additional debates on Tuesday night, to which Trump responded: “Well, I don’t want to invite Martha MacCallum and Brett Baier.
I would have preferred to invite someone other than Marsha and Brett. ” Fox News had proposed a debate with both campaigns on Sept. 4, moderated by McCallum and Baier, but that date has passed and the campaigns have not agreed to meet.
