ABC News says both Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic counterpart, Kamala Harris, have agreed to meet in a debate on September 10.
The network’s announcement on Thursday came shortly after Trump told a news conference that he had agreed to three debates with Harris in September on separate networks. The Harris campaign had no immediate comment.
Trump is rejoining the ABC debate days after posting on his social media network that he would not appear on the network, citing a lawsuit he filed. His decision marks a long-awaited moment in an election in which the first debate led to a massive change in the race — with Democratic President Joe Biden ending his re-election bid and endorsing Harris.
“I think it’s very important to have debates,” Trump said Thursday. “I’m looking forward to the debates because I think we need to set the record straight.”
At a private fundraiser in Paris on Thursday, Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, said he “can’t wait” to see his wife debate Trump. He was in Paris as head of the American delegation to the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics.
Fox News has also suggested that a debate between Harris and Trump would take place on September 4, and NBC News aims to air one on September 25.
Trump also said he wants his vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, to debate Harris’ choice for veep, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, on CBS. The network is discussing possible dates for that meeting.
ABC says David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the September 10 contest. That’s the same date Trump and Biden had agreed to their second and final debate, before Biden’s decision cast that event into doubt.
Each debate promises to take on extra importance as polls show a tight race between the former president and the current vice president. Although Harris has created a wave of excitement among Democrats since inheriting the mantle from Biden, she has yet to appear at a news conference or give an interview to a journalist.
The Republicans are already making that a problem. Vance said in a post on X when Trump was at his press conference on Thursday that Harris was hiding behind a TelePrompter. “It’s been 18 days since she answered real questions from the media,” he wrote.
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Associated Press writer Jocelyn Noveck in Paris contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him up http://twitter.com/dbauder.
