Trump changes course again, says he won't hold another debate with Harris
Former President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Thursday that he will not debate Vice President Kamala Harris a second time before Election Day.
"THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!" Trump wrote on Truth Social in reference to his first debate against President Biden in late June and a second debate against Harris this week.
In the post, Trump maintained that "polls clearly show" that he won the debate, though he did not provide any evidence to back up his claim.
Three polls taken immediately after the date found that Harris outperformed Trump. CNN/SSRS showed Harris beating Trump by a margin of 63%-37%, SoCal Strategies/On Point Politics/Red Eagle Politics had Harris over Trump by 53%-34% and YouGov found that Harris bested Trump by a margin of 54%-31%.
Two other post-debate polls released Thursday showed Harris building her national lead over Trump. A national Morning Consult poll found Harris leading Trump by five points, a three-point bump following Tuesday's debate. A Reuters/Ipsos poll also found Harris with a five-point lead.
Moments after Trump announced his decision to forego another debate with Harris, the vice president took the stage at a campaign rally in Charlotte, N.C., and proclaimed "we owe it to the voters to have another debate!"
On Tuesday, Harris’s campaign called for a second debate between the two candidates to be held in October.
“Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?" Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement Tuesday night.
Following the first debate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was asked by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow whether his running mate should debate Trump again.
“Look, I don’t want to speak for her, but I would be there encouraging her to do it every day,” Walz responded, and there is data to back up his confidence.
On Wednesday, Trump sought to cast himself as the winner of the debate.
“The first thing they did is ask for a debate because when a fighter loses, he says ‘I want a rematch,’” Trump said during a Wednesday morning interview on Fox & Friends.
Trump repeated that message in a post on Truth Social.
“In the World of Boxing or UFC, when a Fighter gets beaten or knocked out, they get up and scream, ‘I DEMAND A REMATCH, I DEMAND A REMATCH!’ Well, it’s no different with a Debate,” he wrote. “She was beaten badly last night. Every Poll has us WINNING, in one case, 92-8, so why would I do a Rematch?”
Trump has, of course, backtracked on his commitment to hold debates. Last month, for instance, he abruptly announced he was pulling out of the ABC News debate and instead proposed that the two candidates face off on Fox News instead. Harris refused that demand and Trump ultimately relented and appeared in last night’s previously agreed to debate.
By Wednesday afternoon, Trump was shifting again, telling reporters in Shanksville, Pa., that he was still considering more debates.
“When you win, you don’t really necessarily have to do it a second time, so we’ll see,” Trump said, before adding, “Are we going to do a rematch, I just don’t know. We’ll think about it.”
Pressed on whether he would agree to participate in a Sept. 25 debate on NBC, Trump said, “I would do NBC. I’d do Fox too.”
