Former President Donald J. Trump has announced that he and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris have agreed to participate in a debate on ABC on September 10. Trump indicates that the rules will be the same as those for the CNN debate he had with President Joe Biden.
Trump announced the move on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Tuesday afternoon. He referred to ABC as “by far the nastiest and most unfair newscaster in the business.” In late July, the former President got into a heated exchange with the broadcast network’s Rachel Scott at the 2024 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention—with Trump referring to ABC as a “fake news” network.
According to Trump, both he and Harris will stand for the debate, and neither candidate will be allowed to bring notes or have access to questions before the debate. Harris and her campaign team had previously demanded a sit-down debate and wanted access to notes.
Trump added that Harris has yet to agree to the proposed September 4 debate on Fox News nor a possible third debate with NBC.
The debate will be Trump’s first with Harris and a major test for the Democratic Party nominee, who has been avoiding media interviews for weeks. Harris is still looking to build an edge against Trump in the polls following a lackluster performance at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago earlier this month. Voter surveys following the DNC suggest that Harris may be in trouble as she received little to no bump from the convention and that Trump has taken the lead in the polls.