Former President Donald Trump revealed that Vice President Kamala Harris’ team told his campaign that she would not participate in a Fox News presidential debate on September 4.
“The proposed debate would have been held in Pennsylvania and moderated by network anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum,” Fox News reported.
“I am not surprised by this development because I feel that she knows it is very difficult, at best, for her to defend her record-setting Flip-Flopping on absolutely everything she once believed in, including her statements that THERE WILL BE NO FRACKING IN PENNSYLVANIA and her HORRIBLE Performance on the Border,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Both Trump and Harris have said they will be in an ABC News discussion on September 10. Trump had said before that he was also open to a debate on NBC News on September 25.
The Harris team said it would think about having a second debate in October.
Both parties have also agreed to hold a debate between Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. It will air on CBS News on October 1.
“Voters deserve to see the candidates for the highest office in the land share their competing visions for our future. The more they play games, the more insecure and unserious Trump and Vance reveal themselves to be to the American people. Those games end now,” Harris’ campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement last week.
Instead, Trump says he will participate in a town hall in Pennsylvania with Fox News host Sean Hannity on September 4.
A co-founder of a major super PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris turned heads on Monday after suggesting that her polling numbers are being overstated.
Reuters reported that Chauncey McLean, president of Future Forward, a super PAC that has raised hundreds of millions to support Harris this election cycle, spoke on Monday at an event in Chicago associated with the Democratic National Convention.
“Our numbers are much less rosy than what you’re seeing in the public,” said McLean, who rarely speaks in public.
According to McLean, Kamala Harris gained a lot of support from young voters of color after Biden withdrew, which has revived Democratic prospects in Sunbelt states like Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina—states that Democrats had largely dismissed in the final days of Biden’s campaign.
“She has multiple paths,” with seven states in play, he said, according to Reuters. He added that voters want more details about her policy positions, according to internal polling. He asserts that voters are not interested in “white papers” or empty platitudes. Instead, they want concrete examples of how Harris might differ from Biden and how she plans to improve their economic situation.
“We have [the race] tight as a tick,” he added.
Meanwhile, CNN contributor and former Obama administration official Van Jones expressed concerns on Monday that despite a month’s worth of fawning mainstream media coverage and avoiding a former press conference, the best Harris has done is remain essentially tied with former President Donald Trump in states they both need to win.
An Emerson College survey released late last week shows Trump leading Harris 51% to 49% in the state, after distributing the preferences of undecided voters.
This indicates a tightening of the race compared to last month’s results, where Trump led Harris 51% to 45% among very likely voters. However, recent polling from the state had consistently shown Harris in the lead. Emerson’s latest data breaks from that trend.
Electorally, Trump maintains an advantage over Harris on key issues like the economy and immigration, where his policies have appealed to specific voter groups. However, Harris has shown improvement compared to Joe Biden’s previous performance in these areas.