Trump Agrees To ABC-Hosted Debate With Harris, Moderators Named

Former President Donald Trump has confirmed his participation in a one-on-one debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, set for September 10 on ABC.

Trump revealed his decision to join the debate during a press conference held at his Mar-a-Lago Club on Thursday. Harris has also agreed to take part, marking this as the first debate between the two candidates since President Joe Biden withdrew last month following his poor debate performance.

Trump initially looked forward to his second debate with Biden on ABC, which he accepted back in May. However, earlier this month, he hinted at possibly skipping it after Biden effectively passed the baton to his vice president, even though she struggled in the 2020 Democratic primaries and Biden secured all the primary votes this year.

ABC News has announced that David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the upcoming debate.

“I think it’s very important to have debates,” Trump stated during his press conference. “We have spoken to the heads of the network, and it’s all been confirmed, other than some fairly minor details. Audience, some location, which city would we put it into, but all things that will be settled very easily, very, I think it will be very easy. The other side has to agree to the terms. They may or may not agree.”

Trump also took the opportunity to criticize Harris, particularly her performance as ‘border czar’: “I don’t know if they’re going to agree. She hasn’t done an interview. She can’t do an interview. She’s barely competent, and she can’t do an interview. But I look forward to the debates, because I think we have to set the record straight. Why is it that millions of people were allowed to come into our country from prisons, from jails, from mental institutions, insane asylums, even insane prisons.”

Harris briefly addressed reporters following a campaign event in Michigan on Thursday. She mentioned that her team is arranging a date for her to hold a full press conference, which would be her first since Biden essentially designated her as the party’s nominee.

An insider from Harris’s team mentioned on Thursday night that the vice president is open to more debates, according to ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang. The insider noted that these discussions are “contingent on Trump showing up” on September 10.

The debate controversy arises as long-time Democratic strategist James Carville criticized Harris for consistently deferring to the far-left faction of the party, which he believes will cost her in the upcoming election.

Carville, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, made these comments just days before Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday. Walz, known as a left-wing ‘progressive,’ quickly faced criticism from conservatives for his record in the state, particularly his response to the George Floyd-related unrest that severely impacted Minneapolis in the spring and summer of 2020.

During his “Politics War Room” podcast last week, Carville stated that the far-left wing of the party is repeatedly “dead-ass wrong” on major issues, expressing his frustration that Harris hasn’t distanced herself from them.

“Understand this, and I’m going to say this as clearly as I can: Anybody that has ever listened to anything that the progressive left has ever said has lived to profoundly regret it. Literally on every issue, they’re dead a– wrong,” Carville said, citing Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as an example, stating that she “blew” her 2020 presidential campaign by promoting a far-left proposal.

“Ask Elizabeth Warren and Medicare-for-All. She blew her campaign up with one speech, all right?”

“I’d love to read a good article on who really was the strategic idiot behind her 2020 presidential campaign, because they were real f—–’ idiots, alright?” he continued, criticizing those who advised Warren.