Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on August 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris agreed to a debate on September 10 hosted by ABC Newsboth presidential candidates said on Thursday.
Trump said at a news conference that he has also signed up for two more debates: one to be hosted by Fox News on Sept. 4 and the other to be hosted by NBC News on Sept. 25.
Harris, the Democratic nominee, later told reporters: “I’m happy to have this conversation for an additional debate or after Sept. 10 [on ABC News]certainly.”
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks with members of the media before boarding Air Force Two at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan, U.S., August 7, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
“I’ve always been on the record, I’m looking forward to talking to Donald Trump, and we have a September 10 date,” Harris said. NBC News earlier at a campaign event with the United Auto Workers union in Wayne, Michigan.
Republican nominee Trump, at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, said: “I think it’s very important to have conversations.”
Trump said CBS News will host a vice presidential debate between his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, and Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walsh.
Fox previously agreed to host a Trump-Harris debate on Sept. 4.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on August 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
NBC has presented both campaigns with multiple possible dates for a presidential debate, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
The Trump campaign agreed to Sept. 25, but the Harris campaign has yet to agree on that date, the person said.
Trump’s announcement of three possible conversations with Harris was a twist of his vow last week not to engage in ABC debate. Trump at the time claimed his pending action for libel against the network created a “conflict of interest”.
Harris has since mocked Trump for refusing to commit to the ABC debate, the Sept. 10 date originally set for Trump to talk to President Joe Biden, who dropped out last month.
Trump’s free press conference Thursday, which lasted about an hour, came amid a push for the Harris-Walz ticket.
Trump’s campaign in recent days has pressed Harris and Walz to take questions from the media — and pushed the media to demand that Democrats do so — as it accused the vice president of avoiding reporters.
“She hasn’t given an interview, she can’t give an interview, she’s barely qualified,” Trump said Thursday.
Harris has largely sidestepped reporters since Biden dropped his re-election bid and endorsed her as his replacement last month.
Harris and Walsh began an inaugural campaign on the battlefields on Tuesday, holding no press conferences.
Harris campaign spokesman Amar Musa said Thursday that Trump is “fuming” because the former president is not getting the attention he “craves.”
“Trump has no vision, no solutions, and is waging a campaign of revenge and retribution to implement his Project 2025 agenda and make people’s lives worse,” Musa said.
