Donald Trump has agreed to debate Vice President Kamala Harris on September 4, moderated by Fox News.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that he is “totally prepared” to accept the “coup” that saw the Democrats replace President Joe Biden as the party’s presumptive 2024 nominee. He is also willing to debate “Crazy Kamala Harris.”
It is unclear whether Harris agreed to the Fox News debate and its terms. Prior to Biden’s withdrawal from the race, Harris had planned to debate Trump at the scheduled ABC News presidential debate on September 10.
“I have agreed with Fox News to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th. The debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been cancelled because Biden will no longer participate, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos [Stephanopoulos], resulting in a conflict of interest,” Trump wrote.
“The Fox News Debate will take place in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at a location to be determined.”
Harris’s presidential campaign has gained momentum, with multiple polls showing her ahead of Trump.
On Friday, Harris’ campaign accused Trump of being “too scared” to face the vice president in a debate, and urged the Republican to “man up.”
Harris also increased the pressure on Trump to debate her, telling a crowd at a campaign rally in Georgia that if the former president has anything to say about her, he should “say it to my face.”
Trump claims in his Truth Social post that Fox News’ Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will moderate the September 4 debate.
Trump also stated that the rules of the debate will be similar to those of the CNN debate, which used muted microphones when each candidate was not required to speak in order to avoid interruptions.
The former president added that, unlike the CNN debate, the Fox News event will have a “full arena audience.”
Trump also expressed sympathy for Biden, claiming he has been “treated horribly” by his party after dozens of members publicly urged him to withdraw from the 2024 race.
“As everyone is aware, the Democrats have unconstitutionally removed a candidate who was acknowledged to be defeated and unceremoniously replaced him with a new candidate. “This has never been done before and poses a threat to democracy,” Trump stated.
“I spent hundreds of millions of dollars, time, and effort fighting Joe, and when I won the debate, they introduced a new candidate into the race. It is not fair, but that is how things are! Regardless of the candidate, their bad policies are the same, and this will be clearly demonstrated during the September 4th debate.
“I am looking forward to meeting and debate Kamala Harris on September 4th. This date is convenient and appropriate because it falls just before the start of early voting in the 2024 Presidential Election on September 6th.”
Harris formally secured the Democratic presidential nomination for 2024 on Friday.
Newsweek contacted Harris’ team for a response via email outside of regular working hours.
Trump cited a lawsuit against ABC News and host George Stephanopoulos for claiming the former president was “liable for rape” in a case involving writer E. Jean Carroll.
In 2023, a New York civil court found that Trump sexually abused Carroll in 1996, but the jury did not find that he raped her. The judge overseeing the civil case later wrote in two separate filings that Trump raped Carroll under a broader definition used in other states, including in New York.
