OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Vice President Kamala Harris is getting new criticism over her refusal to agree to debate former President Donald Trump on Fox News after the network invited both of them late last month.
Trump readily accepted the invite after the network agreed to also hold the event before a live audience, unlike his first debate against President Joe Biden on CNN. But Harris’ campaign has turned down the offer after criticizing Trump’s decision to back out of a previously agreed-upon second debate with Biden on ABC that is scheduled for Sept. 10. Trump’s team said Biden’s decision to leave the race made that debate null and void.
The Fox event is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 4.
“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,” Harris Campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement on Saturday.
“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 Harris campaign also claimed that Trump was “running scared,” though he has clearly agreed to debate the VP, just in a different venue.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to respond to Harris’ camp.
“I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th,” the former president wrote. “The Debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest.”
Trump is currently suing ABC’s George Stephanopoulos for defamation over false statements he made regarding the E. Jean Carroll case.
“The FoxNews Debate will be held in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at a site in an area to be determined,” Trump continued. “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!”
Though the live audience is a change from the June debate against Biden, which proved to be a disaster for the current Oval Office occupant and a catalyst for him to drop his reelection bid, Trump did agree to a similar format whereby candidates’ mics would be muted after their allotted time so they could not talk over each other.
Previously, Trump said he would not agree to debate Harris until her nomination became official after simply being anointed by Biden’s endorsement, though she hadn’t received a single delegate vote during the Democratic primaries earlier this year.
In the meantime, Harris also has not held a formal press conference since Biden endorsed her more than two weeks ago.
Fox News reported on Monday that it has been 15 days since she assumed the top spot on the Democratic ticket without addressing the media.
NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham expects her to follow President Biden’s 2020 playbook when he was famously accused of hiding in his basement during the COVID pandemic.
“Kamala Harris should absolutely hold a press conference. One would expect it when she names her vice-presidential pick. But we cannot expect her to break from Biden’s serial avoidance of press conferences,” Graham told Fox News Digital.
“Since the 2020 campaign, we have witnessed the bizarre spectacle of Donald Trump granting wide access to networks that suggest he’s a fascist and hammer him daily, while Biden and Harris won’t grant interviews to media outlets that gurgle all over them and their ‘historic accomplishments,’” he continued. “Either they think the press can never be servile enough, or they are projecting a complete lack of confidence in their efforts to put complete sentences together.”
