Trump claims new debate deal as Harris urges sticking to existing date

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump claimed late Friday night to have struck a deal for a new debate with Vice President Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

But the Harris campaign said Saturday that she never agreed to a new debate deal. Harris is urging Trump to keep the debate date he agreed on with President Biden before Biden withdrew from the race last month.

In a social media post late Friday, Trump claimed he and Harris had agreed to debate on Sept. 4 on Fox News. Trump said his previous commitment to a debate on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC News was “terminated” because Biden dropped out as the Democratic candidate.

Harris’s team was baffled by Trump’s claims. The Harris campaign said Saturday that there is no agreement for a new Fox News debate on Sept. 4. A person familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning, said the campaign held no negotiations with Trump or Fox about a new debate. Fox representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Harris spokesman Michael Tyler said the campaign would discuss additional debates after the one Trump already agreed to. He said Harris will attend the Sept. 10 forum whether Trump shows up or not.

“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Tyler said. “Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th,” he added, referring to language Trump previously used to pressure Biden into agreeing to a faceoff.

Trump spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests to clarify his post on Saturday.

In Friday’s post, Trump also raised objections to ABC serving as moderator, even though he previously accepted the network’s role. Trump referenced a lawsuit against ABC accusing host George Stephanopoulos of defaming him by misstating a jury verdict in a New York trial that found the former president liable for sexual abuse. A federal judge in Florida said in July that the case could proceed.

Trump agreed to the ABC debate in May two months after filing his lawsuit against the network. The moderators will be David Muir and Linsey Davis, not Stephanopoulos.

ABC representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump’s post on Friday said the purported deal would feature rules similar to June’s debate with Biden “BUT WITH A FULL ARENA AUDIENCE!”