Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Thursday that she will stand in for President Joe Biden in the upcoming ABC presidential debate on September 10 against former President Donald J. Trump. “So many of you have been asking me about the debate and I’ll tell you, I’m ready to debate Donald Trump. I have agreed to the previously agreed upon September 10 debate,” she said at Joint Base Andrews. However, she did not respond and walked away when asked about a proposed debate on Fox News set for September 17 in Pennsylvania.
Trump had earlier challenged Harris to a debate on Fox News, criticizing ABC and calling for the debate to be moved to Fox. “My debate with Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the history of the United States, was slated to be broadcast on Fake News ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, sometime in September. Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on Fox News, rather than very biased ABC,” Trump wrote.
While not yet officially the Democratic nominee, Harris has secured the endorsements of many top Democrats and the Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC), making the Democratic National Convention likely only a formality.
Since becoming the assumed nominee, mainstream media have been scrubbing negative stories about Harris, including a story that listed her as the most liberal member of the United States Senate in 2019.
A debate could prove to be a decisive moment in the campaign. Some early polling suggests Trump and Harris may be tied among voters.