Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took turns insulting one another on Saturday after weeks of arguing about when and where they might debate.
The former president has refused to take part in a debate previously scheduled for September 10, hosted by ABC News, and has as an alternative sought to pressure Harris, the de facto Democratic presidential nominee. to just accept an earlier debate in a totally different setting on the Trump-friendly channel Fox News.
Trump announced on Friday, Truth Social that he had agreed with Fox News to carry a debate against Harris on September 4 with Fox News moderators and a full audience.
The Harris team mocked Trump on Saturday for reneging on his promise to take part in the ABC News debate.
“Donald Trump is scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and is running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a press release Saturday.
Trump called the continued legal battle with ABC News a “conflict of interest.” Fox News didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
“He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on September 10th. The vice president will be there one way or another and will take advantage of the opportunity to speak to a national audience in prime time,” Tyler said.
Trump later shot in several Truth Social News stories calling Harris a “low IQ person.”
“Kamala Harris does not have the mental capacity to fight a REAL debate against me scheduled for September 4th in Pennsylvania,” Trump wrote in one other Truth Social Post. “I'll see them on September 4th or I won't see them at all.”
President Joe Biden and Trump agreed to 2 debates on mutual terms in May, one hosted by CNN on June 27 and the second hosted by ABC News on September 10. Although Biden has since dropped out of the race as a consequence of his disastrous performance on the June debate, the Harris team insisted that the terms of the May deal still stand.
Days after Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris, Trump said he was willing to debate the vp several times. As Harris rose within the polls and raised record donations, Trump repeatedly went back on his original agreement with May and toyed with the concept of skipping the debates altogether.
The Harris team has stated that the vp will appear at the controversy on September 10, whether Trump is there or not.
“It’s interesting how ‘anytime, any place’ becomes ‘a specific time, a specific safe place,’” Harris wrote in a X-Post on Saturday, doubling his bet. “I will be there on September 10, as he agreed. I hope to see him there.”
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