Kamala Harris Agrees to Second Debate on CNN, Urges Donald Trump to Do Same
Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted CNN’s invitation to participate in a second debate that would take place on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
“The American people deserve another opportunity to see Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate before they cast their ballots,” Harris-Walz Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement Saturday. “It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate.”
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CNN has confirmed that the format would resemble the June debate between President Joe Biden and Trump, with the candidates fielding moderators’ questions for 90 minutes without a studio audience.
“Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate,” O’Malley Dillon continued. “It is the same format and setup as the CNN debate he attended and said he won in June, when he praised CNN’s moderators, rules, and ratings.”
Shortly thereafter, at a political rally in Wilmington, N.C., former President Donald Trump suggested that Oct. 23 was “just too late” for another debate — even though the final presidential debate of the 2020 Election cycle took place on Oct. 22.
After Trump’s first face-off with Harris earlier this month, the former president declared that he would not debate Harris again in a Truth Social post, spelling out in all-caps: “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” (Trump previously debated President Joe Biden in June, with Biden’s poor performance contributing to his decision to drop out of the race and endorse his VP Harris as the Democratic nominee.)
Harris, though, signaled that she’d be up for a rematch during a speech to supporters in North Carolina on Sept. 12. “I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate,” she said at the time. “Because this election and what is at stake could not be more important.”
ABC served as host of the first Harris/Trump debate, with ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis serving as moderators. TVLine readers chose Harris as the clear winner, with 74% of poll respondents saying she won the debate and 25% opting for Trump. Pop superstar Taylor Swift also announced she’s endorsing Harris in a statement posted to Instagram minutes after the debate ended.
There’d be great interest in another Trump-Harris debate, judging by the ratings: ABC’s debate attracted more than 67 million viewers across all networks, a 31% increase over the audience for June’s Trump-Biden debate.
Would you watch another debate between Trump and Harris? Or have you seen enough to know who you’re voting for? Sound off in the comments.
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