Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Monday that while he “probably” will debate Vice President Kamala Harris, he could “also make a case” for avoiding a face-to-face confrontation with his likely Democratic opponent.
Trump, in a Fox News interview that aired Monday evening, did not initially say whether he would commit to a debate with Harris. And while he ultimately seemed to confirm that he was game, his answers left room for ambiguity.
The remarks underscored how far the dynamics of the race have shifted in the week since President Joe Biden withdrew his reelection bid — a decision that came after his disastrous debate against Trump in late June.
Before that debate, Trump had repeatedly challenged Biden to face him “anytime, anywhere, anyplace.” But when asked about debating Harris, he struck a different tone.
“So, I like debating. I like debating, I’ve done a lot of debates,” the former president told Fox host Laura Ingraham.
“I want to do a debate, but I also can say this: Everybody knows who I am, and now people know who she is,” he said, accusing Harris of being a “radical left lunatic.”
Ingraham interjected: “Then why not debate her?”
Trump responded, “Well, wait. But, because they already know everything.”
When Ingraham said, “They’re going to say you’re afraid of debating her,” Trump replied, “They said that with Biden, too.”
“I’m leading in the polls,” Trump added, although a number of recent surveys show Harris in a virtual tie or slight lead, both nationally and in key swing states.
“The answer’s yes, I’ll probably end up debating,” Trump said, adding, “I think actually the debate should take place before the votes start getting cast.”
He noted that his second debate with Biden in the 2020 race was “very good,” but a large chunk of the votes had already been cast by the time that mid-October event took place.
“So the answer’s yes,” Trump said. “But I can also make a case for not doing it.”
Harris, meanwhile, has publicly pushed Trump to debate her since she become the de facto Democratic nominee following Biden’s withdrawal on July 21.
Her campaign said earlier Monday that she will be at the Sept. 10 presidential debate — which Trump and then-candidate Biden had previously agreed to attend — whether her GOP rival is there or not.
“We’ll see if Trump shows,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement.
“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” Tyler said. “If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘we’ll see you there,’ — and it appears that they are — it’s a convenient but expected backtrack from Team Trump.”
Harris has already accused Trump of “backpedaling” from that debate.
“I think that voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage, and so I’m ready,” Harris told reporters on Thursday. “Let’s go.”
While Trump told reporters last week he would be willing to debate Harris “multiple times,” he also said that he was “not thrilled about ABC.”
“They’re actually trying to make a hero out of Joe Biden when he was the worst president in history, and they were doing things like with Kamala, like what a wonderful thing that she is running,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of ABC.”
Trump’s campaign then said on Thursday that it “would be inappropriate” to schedule a debate against Harris, since she is not yet the official Democratic nominee.
“Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said. “It would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds.”
Neither Trump nor Biden were their parties’ official nominees when they debated in June.
ABC News on Friday released its qualification requirements for the debate, suggesting the network is moving forward with its plans despite Trump’s refusal to commit.