Donald Trump rejects Kamala Harris debate re-match because it is ‘too late’

Donald Trump said it was “just too late” for another presidential debate against Kamala Harris, hours after she accepted an invitation from CNN to appear on stage with him on October 23.

The former president told a crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday that he would not take part in a second debate because voting has already started in some states, and the CNN event was planned for less than two weeks before polling day.

“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late, voting has already started,” he said, adding: “Now she wants to do a debate right before the election with CNN because she’s losing badly.”

It came just hours after Ms Harris’s campaign formally accepted an invitation to appear at a debate on CNN – the same network that broadcast Trump’s debate against Joe Biden in June.

Ms Harris’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, announced earlier on Saturday that the Vice President had agreed to the debate on October 23.

“The American people deserve another opportunity to see Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate before they cast their ballots,” she said.

“It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate.

“Debates offer a unique chance for voters to see the candidates side by side and take stock of their competing visions for America.”

Trump had previously expressed doubt that he would take part in a second debate against Harris, after his lacklustre performance in their first head-to-head on September 10 in Philadelphia.

It came as he launched a new $100 “Trump coin” to catch up with Ms Harris’s fundraising boom.

Trump announced he would begin selling “incredible” new silver medallions, which are available to his supporters online.

The coins have been added to an increasingly bizarre collection of Trump merchandise, including gold trainers, cologne to commemorate the assassination attempt against him, digital trading cards that depict him as a superhero, and Taylor Swift spoof t-shirts.

The latest fundraising figures for his campaign, released on Saturday, show Kamala Harris raised four times more money than him in August.

In the first full month of her presidential campaign, Ms Harris raised almost $190m, compared with his $45 million. Her campaign war chest was valued at $235m at the end of the month, while his campaign had $134m.

Trump’s campaign sends daily texts to supporters, urging them to give to his campaign. His team has organised a lottery, the winners of which will be flown to Mar-a-Lago to meet the candidate himself.

Ms Harris has erased Trump’s fundraising advantage, which was built up in the months before Joe Biden left the presidential race on July 21. The figures show donors flocked to Ms Harris in the days after she announced she would run to replace him in the White House.

After the presidential debate on September 10, Ms Harris’s team said $47m was donated to her campaign, which was not included in the latest filings.

Trump is now unlikely to catch up with Ms Harris’s fundraising lead before election day on November 5.

The latest financial filings show a closer race between Trump’s main super PAC, MAGA Inc, and Ms Harris’s Future Forward. Trump’s body raised $25m in August, to Future Forward’s $37m. The Democratic National Committee also out-raised the Republican National Committee in the same period.

Trump’s new coin is a 1oz silver medallion featuring an etching of his face on the obverse and the White House and his signature on the reverse.

A new website to market the coin describes it as the “highest quality struck medallion using a process to create a mirror-like finish”.

“This finish is primarily made for collectors, not for general circulation,” it notes.

Announcing its launch on his Truth Social platform, Trump said: “Good morning everyone—I have something incredible to share today, as we are introducing the launch of our Official Trump Coins! The ONLY OFFICIAL coin designed by me—and proudly minted here in the USA.”

Trump has capitalised on some of the most dramatic moments of the presidential campaign in his merchandise, and already sells t-shirts, mugs and beer coolers printed with his mugshot from the Georgia election interference court case.

He sells trainers and men’s cologne emblazoned with the words “Fight! Fight Fight!”, which has become his unofficial slogan since he called it out to supporters in the moments after an assassination attempt against him on July 13.

Another t-shirt is printed with a graph of illegal migration statistics that Trump was gesturing towards on a screen as Thomas Crooks shot at him from a nearby rooftop.

The campaign is also selling digital trading cards with various photos of Trump, including one that depicts him as a superhero. Some supporters who bought several digital cards have received a physical card containing a fragment of the suit he wore to debate Mr Biden.