Donald Trump has rejected the possibility of a second presidential debate with his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. This decision comes just weeks before the U.S. presidential election on November 5. The announcement was made on Wednesday, hours after Fox News proposed hosting another debate between the two candidates later this month.
Trump, the Republican former president, and Harris, the Democratic vice president, are in a tight race for the White House. Despite the close contest, Trump firmly ruled out any further face-offs, following their only debate in September. Trump made his position clear in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying, “It is very late in the process, (early) voting has already begun — there will be no rematch!”
The September debate in Philadelphia marked the first and, now it seems, only time Trump and Harris went head-to-head in this election cycle. Trump pointed to comments made by Harris, in which she said she wouldn’t do anything different from President Joe Biden. “Kamala stated clearly, yesterday, that she would not do anything different than Joe Biden, so there is nothing to debate,” Trump added, suggesting that there was no need for further discussion.
Harris had previously challenged Trump to another debate, suggesting CNN host a meeting on October 23. However, Trump declined the offer. In his social media post, Trump also claimed that Harris had already backed out of a debate proposed by Fox News earlier in the race, though her campaign had not confirmed or publicly addressed this claim.
Fox News, still attempting to bring the two candidates together for a final debate, sent a letter to both campaigns on Wednesday. They offered two possible dates, October 24 or October 27, for a final debate that could serve as an opportunity for each candidate to make their final case to voters. Jay Wallace, president of Fox News Media, wrote, “This would present an opportunity for each candidate to make his or her closing arguments.”
So far, it seems that the September 10 debate, hosted by ABC News, will remain the only meeting between Trump and Harris. Meanwhile, the candidates’ running mates, Republican J.D. Vance and Democrat Tim Walz, debated on October 1. Trump also mentioned he had agreed to other debates, including one with Fox on September 4 and another with NBC News on September 25, but Harris had not participated in either.
