In a recent announcement on his Truth Social platform, former US President Donald Trump said that he has accepted an invitation from Fox News to engage in a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. The event is set to take place on September 4 in Pennsylvania, although the specific location remains undetermined.
Trump also mentioned the cancellation of a previously scheduled ABC News debate against US President Joe Biden, who has since suspended his re-election campaign.The former president attributed the cancellation to his ongoing litigation against ABC and one of its hosts, George Stephanopoulos, which he believes creates a conflict of interest.
“I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th,” Trump wrote. “The Debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest,” he added.
The upcoming debate will be moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. While the rules will be similar to those of the June 27 CNN debate against Biden, whom Trump claims “has been treated horribly by his Party,” the Fox News debate will include an audience, unlike the CNN event.
Initially, Fox News had invited both Trump and Harris to participate in a debate in Pennsylvania on September 17th. Last month, Harris expressed her readiness to debate the former president and accused him of backtracking on a previous agreement to debate on ABC News on September 10.
This development follows Harris becoming the Democratic Party’s official nominee for president after Biden announced his withdrawal from the re-election campaign.
Trump had previously said that he would not debate Harris because she was not the party’s official candidate following Biden’s departure from the race. However, on Friday, the vice president secured the necessary delegates to officially become the party’s nominee.