Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are set to debate on ABC on September 10th after the former president announced on Thursday that he has agreed to face off alongside two others next month.
“ABC News will be inviting qualified presidential candidates to debate on ABC on September 10th. Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump have confirmed that they will be participating in the ABC debate,” the network said in a statement.
Speaking at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, President Trump said he was “looking forward to” debating the vice president and that he also had additional engagements lined up with Fox News, ABC and NBC.
“I think the debate is very important and we have agreed with Fox on September 4th.” “We’ve reached an agreement with NBC. It’s a pretty comprehensive agreement, contingent on approval on September 10th, and we’ve reached an agreement with ABC on September 25th,” the former president said.
A senior Trump adviser and an ABC official familiar with the matter said the exact dates Trump agreed to with each network were September 4 for Fox News, September 10 for ABC and September 25 for NBC.
Trump said “fine details,” such as audiences and filming locations, were still being worked out.
“The other side has to agree to the terms. She may or may not agree. I don’t know if she’ll agree. (Harris) did not make herself available for an interview. She is not available for an interview. “She is barely competent and cannot be interviewed. I think we need to get this right and I look forward to the debate,” he said.
Harris had already agreed to the September 10 ABC debate — originally accepted before President Trump and former President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Earlier this week, President Trump said he would not debate Harris unless she agreed to participate in the Fox News debate scheduled for September 4.
With Harris’ team indicating they would not agree to the Fox News debate, ABC officials were confident the network’s debate would be the first between Trump and the vice president.
An NBC source familiar with the negotiations said Sept. 25 is “one of the dates” given to the campaigns. The network is in talks with both sides, but the Harris campaign has not yet officially confirmed it will participate.
Details of the location, rules and moderators will be decided just before debate day.