Trump Insists: ‘There Will Be No Third Debate’
Donald Trump continues to insist that he won Tuesday night’s debate against Vice President Kamala Harris — but not so much that he’s willing to do it again.
On Thursday, the former president posted a lengthy diatribe on Truth Social in which declared that there will be no rematch for him and Harris.
“Polls clearly show that I won the Debate against Comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ Radical Left Candidate, on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a Second Debate,” Trump wrote. “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”
Trump: “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE” pic.twitter.com/MA5RrKGZHd
— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) September 12, 2024
It’s unclear what polls the former president is consulting. Instant polls from CNN and YouGov favored Harris by a landslide, and Trump’s party struggled to do damage control over his angry, erratic rambling on the debate stage.
The Vice President responded with a counter that American voters were owed more than just one face-to-face confrontation between the candidates. “Two nights ago Donald Trump and I had our first debate, and I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate because this election and what is at stake could not be more important,” Harris said at a rally in North Carolina.
Harris’ campaign challenged Trump to another debate minutes after the broadcast ended. Trump made a surprise in-person appearance in the post-debate spin room, where he was bombarded by questions from reporters about what had gone wrong — and if he would be willing to debate Harris again. “We thought it was our best debate ever — it was my best debate ever,” Trump told reporters. “She wants a second debate because she lost.”
But while Trump attempted to flip the request on Harris and maintain his bluster in Thursday’s Truth Social rejection, behind the scenes his advisers are likely breathing out sighs of relief.
Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday that Trump’s close allies think a rematch would have been a “bad idea,” and that getting Trump to commit to another debate was “not a priority.”
Trump had previously expressed openness to participating in two additional debates — one on Fox News, and one with NBC News, but it looks like this election’s presidential debate cycle will tap out at two. Vice presidential candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz are still scheduled to debate in New York on Oct. 1.
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