On Wednesday, Donald Trump ruled out a second US presidential debate with Democrat Kamala Harris, only hours after Fox News offered to organize a candidate confrontation later this month before the November 5 election.
The Republican ex-president and Democratic vice president, who are embroiled in an excruciatingly close White House struggle, have only met once, in September, and, despite recommendations from many news sites, it appears they will not meet again before the vote.
“It is very late in the process, (early) voting has already begun — there will be no rematch!” Trump remarked in an all-caps statement on his Truth Social media platform, ruling out the prospect of a follow-up to the candidates’ first debate in Philadelphia.
“Kamala stated clearly, yesterday, that she would not do anything different than Joe Biden, so there is nothing to debate,” Trump added.
Harris had earlier challenged Trump to a debate on CNN on October 23, but the former president declined.
Trump also claimed that Harris, who became the Democratic contender after President Biden’s catastrophic debate with Trump, had declined to participate in an earlier Fox debate, despite the fact that the Harris team had not publicly accepted the idea.
The candidates agreed to debate on ABC News on September 10, and the vice presidential running mates, Republican J.D. Vance and Democrat Tim Walz, faced off on October 1.
While Trump stated that he had committed to participate in a discussion on Fox on September 4 and another on NBC News on September 25, Harris never did.
After receiving excellent feedback that she had outperformed Trump in their encounter, the vice president showed interest in holding a second debate, but the arrangements were never realized.
Fox, for its part, issued letters to both camps on Wednesday, suggesting “one final pitch for a debate” between Harris and Trump on October 24 or October 27.
“This would give each candidate the opportunity to make his or her closing arguments,” stated Jay Wallace, president of Fox News Media.
