Trump Doubles Down on Demanding Fox Debate, Saying He Won’t Appear on ABC
‘I want to debate her,’ the former president says, insisting that the forum take place on his preferred network.
President Trump is doubling down on his commitment to only debating Vice President Harris on Fox News after he decided to back out of the planned ABC News debate, citing legal drama with the network and its star host, George Stephanopoulos. Ms. Harris says she won’t appear on the network.
During an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, the former president said he would like to see the debate happen on the network — a proposal he first made on August 3 after announcing he would not appear in the ABC News debate that was scheduled for September 10. Trump said he agreed to a September 4 debate, though if Ms. Harris declines to appear, he would do a town hall-style event and answer questions from voters.
“It’s going to be announced fairly soon. But we’ll be debating her. I would like to see it on Fox, by the way,” he said.
“You have Bret [Baier] and Martha [McCallum], and they’re great, and I’d love to see it on Fox, but you know, it takes two to tango. She doesn’t want to debate. … She wants to say [that] I don’t want to debate, but she doesn’t want to debate,” Trump said.
“I think it’s important for the country that we debate,” he added.
When Trump backed out of the ABC debate, a Harris spokesman told the Associated Press that the former president was “running scared,” and that the vice president would not appear for the event.
“I’m all for Fox. I’d like to see it on Fox. I think Fox would do a really good job, but two people have to agree,” Trump said of Ms. Harris on Wednesday.
A Harris campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump backed out of the ABC debate, he said, because of ongoing litigation with the network and Mr. Stephanopoulos. Trump sued the network because the anchor said in an interview with Congresswoman Nancy Mace that a jury in New York found he was liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s. The jury actually found that Trump was liable for sexual abuse, not rape.
Trump’s claim that the lawsuit is a barrier to his participation in an ABC debate is a stretch, at best. He first sued Mr. Stephanopoulos and the network in March after the host’s assertion about a rape adjudication was made. The former president and his campaign agreed to the ABC debate two months later, in May, when President Biden was still expected to be the Democratic candidate.
