Donald Trump agrees to head-to-head debate with Kamala Harris

US

Donald Trump has agreed to hold a debate with Kamala Harris, after she said she was “ready” to take him on.

Mr Trump had previously said he would not debate Ms Harris – the current vice president and likely Democrat nominee for November’s election – because she was not the official candidate.

But Ms Harris has now secured enough votes from Democratic delegates to become her party’s presidential nominee – though the online voting process does not end until Monday.

“I am totally prepared to accept the results of this “coup,” and replace Joe on the debate stage with Crazy Kamala Harris,” Mr Trump wrote on his own social media site, Truth Social.

“I spent hundreds of millions of dollars, time, and effort fighting Joe, and when I won the debate, they threw a new candidate into the ring. Not fair, but it is what it is!”

“Rules will be similar to the rules of my debate with Sleepy Joe, who has been treated horribly by his party, but with a full arena audience,” he added in a later post, referring to President Joe Biden, who has since dropped his re-election bid.

This second post was then removed for a few minutes before being reposted, with Mr Trump deleting his proposal for a “major” town hall gathering on the same date if Ms Harris was “unwilling or unable to debate”.

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Trump questions Kamala Harris’s racial identity

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Although no official details have been released, Mr Trump says the debate will be hosted by Fox News and will take place on 4 September.

“The Fox News debate will be held in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at a site in an area to be determined,” he wrote.

“The moderators of the debate will be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.”


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Ms Harris had previously said last month she was “ready” after Fox News proposed a presidential debate between the two candidates.

Harris is poised to be the first woman of colour at the top of a major party’s ticket. She has yet to chose her running mate, but is expected to be interviewing candidates over the weekend.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump again courted controversy after he questioned the racial identity of the vice president, drawing gasps from the audience at a convention hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago.

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