Trump Says ‘No Third Debate’ With Harris After Declaring Victory
Former President Donald Trump recently announced he would not participate in a "third debate" in the current election cycle, after previously debating President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris once each.
Following the debate on Tuesday, Harris’s campaign expressed interest in having another round. Trump initially appeared uncertain but, by Thursday afternoon, had decisively rejected the idea of any further debates, as reported by Fox News.
“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first thing they say is, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “The polls clearly show I won the Debate against Comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ Radical Left Candidate, on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a Second Debate.”
Trump went on to criticize Harris and "Crooked Joe" Biden, claiming they have "destroyed our country, allowing millions of criminals and mentally unstable individuals to enter the USA without proper checks," while inflation has severely impacted the middle class.
“Everyone is aware of this, and all the other problems caused by Kamala and Joe — it was thoroughly discussed during the First Debate with Joe, and again in the Second Debate with Comrade Harris,” Trump added.
Trump had participated in a town hall event on Fox News on September 4, following an invitation for both him and Harris to debate. “She didn’t show up for the Fox Debate and refused to join debates on NBC & CBS,” Trump continued. “Kamala should focus on what she didn’t do over the last nearly four years.” He then declared emphatically: “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”
Meanwhile, during a rally in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday, Harris remarked that "we owe it to the voters to have another debate."
The Tuesday debate between Trump and Harris was particularly heated, with both candidates clashing over issues such as abortion, immigration, Israel, and the economy. Trump also found himself at odds with the ABC News moderators, who frequently challenged him while allowing Harris’s claims to go unchecked.
Following the debate, Trump told Fox News Digital that he believed it was his “best debate ever, especially because it was three-on-one.” While polls conducted by CNN and Fox suggested that most respondents thought Harris won, other surveys indicated that her performance had not shifted public opinion in key battleground states.
Former Fox News personality Megyn Kelly criticized the ABC debate moderators on her SiriusXM podcast, accusing them of clear bias against Trump.
Moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis faced criticism from both sides for pressing Trump on various issues while appearing to let Harris off the hook, despite post-debate analysis showing she, too, made several inaccurate statements, including repeating the debunked claim regarding Trump’s remarks on Charlottesville in 2017.
“I’m disgusted. I’m ashamed of those moderators at ABC News. They did exactly what their bosses wanted them to do. The person in charge of ABC News is a close personal friend of Kamala Harris and even facilitated her meeting with her husband. Tonight, they served Dana Walden’s agenda. It was three against one on that debate stage,” Kelly remarked.
“It was three against one. It’s easy to seem confident when both moderators are backing you. Trump did his best under the circumstances, but it was like three fighters ganging up on one. Trump tried to hold his own. He did well, considering, but there were moments where he seemed overly defensive and frustrated. And so was I. Weren’t you?” she added.