WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris' campaign said Thursday she would debate Republican rival Donald Trump twice while her running mates would debate him once, seeking to cap weeks of brinksmanship.
The two sides had already agreed to a presidential debate on Sept. 10 and a vice presidential showdown on Oct. 1, but Trump's campaign had been pushing for two more presidential debates in September and an additional vice presidential showdown.
“The debate over debates is over. Donald Trump's campaign has agreed to our proposal for three debates: two presidential debates and one vice presidential debate,” Harris' campaign said in a statement.
He added that, “assuming Donald Trump actually shows up on September 10,” Harris' running mate Tim Walz would debate Trump's vice presidential nominee JD Vance on October 1, followed by another Trump-Harris face-off in late October.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a AFP request for your reaction to the statement.
Harris's late entry into the race — replacing President Joe Biden after he dropped out amid concerns about his age and unpopularity — has effectively made it the kind of race to Election Day that is more common in Europe.
Harris, already a trailblazer as the first female vice president and the first Black and South Asian vice president, is aiming to make history as the first female president and is scrambling to introduce herself to the public before Nov. 5.
She and Walz head to the Democratic national convention in Chicago next week after a blistering start, in which they have reversed Trump's polling leads, shattered fundraising records and drawn huge, enthusiastic crowds to their rallies.
CBS posted on social media platform X on Wednesday that it had offered four potential vice presidential debates in September and October to Walz, the governor of Minnesota, and Vance, a senator from Ohio.
Both agreed to Oct. 1, which comes after early voting has already begun in several states, but Vance suggested an earlier debate on Sept. 18 that he said had been offered by CNN.
He previously told Fox News he would not do “one of those fake debates … where they don't actually have an audience,” like the June 27 meeting between Trump and Biden that effectively ended the Democrat's reelection campaign.
The debate between Harris and Trump on September 10 will be presented by ABC Newsa channel the president had previously opposed, saying he was in a legal dispute with its executives.
