Trump Agrees to Fox News Debate, Harris Pushes for ABC News

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Facts

  • Republican presidential nominee, former US Pres. Donald Trump, has agreed to face off with his Democratic rival, Vice Pres. Kamala Harris, in a presidential debate on Fox News, adding that this is the only offer of a debate he'll make.[1]
  • The proposed debate would be held on Sept. 4 in a yet-to-be-announced location in Pennsylvania, with rules similar to the June 27 CNN debate between Trump and Joe Biden, however it will include an audience.[2]
  • This comes after Trump declared that he had terminated a previously scheduled Sept. 10 debate on ABC News after Biden left the presidential race and endorsed Harris last month.[3]
  • Trump proposed his debate with Harris on Fox News citing his ongoing federal litigation against ABC and anchor George Stephanopoulos for defamation, which he has claimed created a conflict of interest with the network.[4][5]
  • The Harris campaign stated that further debates could be discussed after the agreed one on Sept. 10 takes place, alleging Trump has chosen Fox News to 'bail him out.'[6][7]
  • In May, Biden and Trump agreed to only two debates before the November presidential election, bypassing the traditional three organized by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates that had been scheduled to take place in September and October.[8][9]

Sources: [1]POLITICO, [2]FOX News, [3]CNN, [4]New York Post, [5]New York Times, [6]BBC News, [7]NBC, [8]CBS and [9]Daily Wire.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by MSNBC. Throughout the year, Trump had begged to debate Biden with complete indifference to the details. However, the former president and his team became reluctant to face Kamala Harris when she became the Democratic candidate. Trump is now backpedaling out of fear over how he would perform against a younger, more dynamic figure like Harris.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Messageboxnews. Throughout the year, Trump had begged to debate Biden with complete indifference to the details. However, the former president and his team became reluctant to face Kamala Harris when she became the Democratic candidate. Trump is now backpedaling out of fear over how he would perform against a younger, more dynamic figure like Harris.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by National Review. It doesn't matter how hard Democrats and their media allies try to act as if Trump is dodging the September debate; that claim will never be valid. He had agreed to face Biden twice after details were negotiated between their teams, so new negotiations had to occur after Harris' nomination. The Vice President is looking for a way out of risking defeat in a debate against Trump.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Breitbart. It doesn't matter how hard Democrats and their media allies try to act as if Trump is dodging the September debate; that claim will never be valid. He had agreed to face Biden twice after details were negotiated between their teams, so new negotiations had to occur after Harris' nomination. The Vice President is looking for a way out of risking defeat in a debate against Trump.

Predictions