In a campaign as polarized as the one currently underway in the United States, anything can turn into a real war of words. This was the case on Saturday, August 3, between the two rivals for the White House, regarding… a possible televised duel in September.
At a campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia, with his running mate JD Vance, Donald Trump spent 90 minutes trying to break the momentum of the vice president and Democratic candidate, who aspires to be the first female president of the United States. On his Truth Social platform, he had announced a few hours earlier that he had “agreed with (the television network) Fox News to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4” – in Pennsylvania, a swing state, and in public – while accusing her of “not having the mental capacity” to face him in a “real debate”.
These televised debates are a tradition in presidential campaigns in the United States and the last one, on June 27 on CNN between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, considered disastrous, led to the withdrawal on July 21 of the Democratic president from the race for the White House. Then against Kamala Harris, who replaced Joe Biden at the last minute, Donald Trump hammered the point home in front of enthusiastic supporters: “We’re going to do it on Fox. If she comes. I don’t think she’s going to come, she’s not capable of expressing herself.”
Fox News vs. ABC
The Harris campaign team had earlier judged that their opponent should stick to the debate that was scheduled against Joe Biden on ABC on September 10. Kamala Harris accused the 78-year-old tribune on X of being “afraid” to face her and of preferring Fox News, the favorite channel of the American right, to “get out of trouble”. “I will be there on September 10, as he accepted. I hope to see him there,” she attacked.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung countered that the Democrat would be “too scared to agree to an earlier debate,” on Sept. 4 instead of Sept. 10, and on Fox News instead of ABC. “Donald Trump is scared and trying to back out of the debate he’s already committed to, going straight to Fox News to bail him out,” said Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign’s communications director. “He needs to show up for the debate he’s already committed to on Sept. 10.”
The vice president is assured of becoming the Democratic nominee after garnering the support of more than half of her party’s delegates in an online vote. She must formally accept the nomination after the delegate vote closes on Monday, then announce in the coming days her choice of running mate, who would be her vice president if she is elected. The duo would then begin a tour starting Tuesday of no fewer than seven key states in the country, where the presidential election could be decided.