Trump agrees to debate with VP Harris on Fox
US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has agreed to an offer from Fox News to hold a debate with Democratic US Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 4, he said in a post on Truth Social late on Friday.
Earlier in the day, US Vice President Kamala Harris secured the Democratic party’s presidential nomination, confirming her remarkable rise to party standard bearer in November’s showdown against Trump.
“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,” Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden, who has since dropped his reelection bid.
After Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and backed Harris, Trump said he would not debate her because she was not the official candidate.
Harris, 59, was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates. The first Black and South Asian woman ever to secure a major party’s nomination, she will be officially crowned at a Chicago convention later this month.
“I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States,” Harris said after securing enough votes by the second day of the marathon virtual vote.
In the two weeks since Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Harris has gained full control of the party, smashing fundraising records, packing arenas and erasing the polling leads Trump had built over the president.
The Harris campaign said Friday it raised $310 million in July—more than double her US presidential rival Donald Trump—with the vast bulk of new cash pouring in after she replaced Biden as the party nominee.
The nomination milestone came with Harris preparing to hit the campaign trail next week for a swing across seven crucial election states alongside her yet-to-be-named running mate.
The Democratic Party decided on a virtual nomination process—departing with tradition and mirroring the procedure used in the pandemic-hit 2020 election—because of an early deadline in Ohio for submitting the names of certified candidates.
