Kamala Harris Mocks Donald Trump for 'Running Scared' Over Debate

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign responded to former President Donald Trump's announcement that he had "agreed" to a Fox News debate, accusing the Republican nominee of "running scared" on Saturday.

Harris formally became the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee on Friday, making history as the first Black and first Asian woman to receive the nomination of a major U.S. political party. Trump had been cagey about whether he would debate Harris, with his campaign previously saying they weren't sure who the Democratic nominee would be after President Joe Biden stepped aside in an unprecedented move on July 21.

"Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out. He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10," Michael Tyler, Harris' campaign communications director, said in a statement emailed to Newsweek.

He continued: "The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience. We're happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to. Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he's too scared to show up on the 10th."

The Democrat was previously prepared to face off against Trump at the pre-arranged ABC News debate on September 10, which had been scheduled before Biden dropped out of the race. After Biden stepped down, Trump's campaign released a statement declining to commit to a debate with Harris.

Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign communications director, said in a July 25 statement emailed to Newsweek that it "would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds."

But late Friday, Trump posted to Truth Social, his social media platform, to say he agreed to a Fox News debate against Harris on September 4. It was not clear whether Harris agreed to be part of that debate.

"The Debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant," the former president wrote. "The FoxNews Debate will be held in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at a site in an area to be determined. The Moderators of the Debate will be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, and the Rules will be similar to the Rules of my Debate with Sleepy Joe, who has been treated horribly by his Party – BUT WITH A FULL ARENA AUDIENCE!"

A source familiar with debate discussions told Newsweek on Saturday that it was their understanding that ABC intends to provide the airtime to whichever qualifying candidates show up—even if that turns out to just be Harris.

Newsweek has reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns as well as Fox News via email for further comment.

Later on Saturday, Trump shared another Truth Social post, attacking Harris' intelligence and suggesting she wouldn't debate him on September 4th.

"Kamala Harris doesn't have the mental capacity to do a REAL Debate against me, scheduled for September 4th in Pennsylvania," he wrote.

Trump continued, "I'll see her on September 4th or, I won't see her at all. She is acknowledged to be the Worst Vice President in History, which works very nicely against the Worst President, Crooked Joe Biden. The combination of these two Low IQ individuals have destroyed our Country, but we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Context

Last month, Biden announced that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and immediately threw his support behind Harris. This decision came in large part due to his disastrous debate performance against Trump on June 27. That lackluster presentation from the president buoyed already widespread concerns about the 81-year-old's mental acuity and ability to continue as commander-in-chief for an additional four years.

"My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it's been the best decision I've made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats —it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this," Biden wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

In a statement on Friday, Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Jaime Harrison announced that Harris had enough delegates to become the nominee and said, "In the span of just a few weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris continues to break records—and today is no different."

Views

Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott posted on X: "Let's be clear: the ABC News debate is not 'terminated.' It's scheduled, and both candidates already agreed to participate. Donald Trump is backing out, because he's afraid of actually debating Kamala Harris.'"

Pro-Trump social media user Joey Mannarino, who has more than 494,000 followers on X added: "Trump was NEVER afraid of debating Kamala Harris. I don't think people realize that she's going to come off awfully in a debate against him. He'll be cool and calm like in the debate against Biden and Kamala will be screaming her brains out, hurling accusations, calling him a 'rapist' and all her usual lines. She'll look unhinged. He'll match it with calmness and coolness. It's not going to be the win she thinks she's getting."

Update, 8/3/24 at 11:33 a.m. ET: This article was published as breaking news and was updated with additional information and background.

Update, 8/3/24 at 2:30 p.m. ET: A new Truth Social post from Trump was added.