Vice President Kamala Harris has expressed her dedication to engaging in a debate with former President Donald Trump on September 10th, regardless of his attendance.
The Harris campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, announced in a statement to The Hill that Harris plans to participate in the ABC debate that was originally planned between Trump and President Joe Biden.
“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” Tyler said. “If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘we’ll see you there,’—and it appears that they are—it’s a convenient, but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on September 10th—we’ll see if Trump shows.”
Following Harris’s repeated criticism of Trump for avoiding the debate stage, he finally made a promise.
“What happened to ‘any time, any place’?” the vice president wrote on X Thursday, soon after the former president’s team suggested there were no specific debate plans in place.
What happened to “any time, any place”? https://t.co/HlR6UmlZxx
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 26, 2024
Kamala Harris Shook Up Politics in a Week. But Can She Win?
“Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” the Trump campaign’s communications director, Steven Cheung, said in a statement.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, stated on MSNBC on Sunday that Trump would certainly participate in a debate against the Democratic nominee, although the nominee has not yet been determined.
The ex-president had previously stated his willingness to engage in debates with Harris on multiple occasions, despite having reservations about the chosen network.
“I’m not thrilled with ABC,” he said. “I guess they committed but I have at least equal say, and I don’t like the idea of ABC.”
Those were the comments the vice president latched onto last week when she told reporters “he’s backpedaling,” before reiterating that message on X.
“Voters deserve to see the split screen that exists on a debate stage,” she wrote. “I’m ready. So let’s go.
What happened to “any time, any place”? https://t.co/HlR6UmlZxx
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 26, 2024
Our campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump.
This campaign is about who we fight for—the American people.
And we can’t do it without you.
Please show your support for our campaign: https://t.co/c9mtidgQmA. pic.twitter.com/LJvA7hS6xb
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 26, 2024
According to Capitoneshirt