Harris agrees to a second debate, but Trump declines

NEW YORK TIMES

Vice President Kamala Harris said on Saturday that she had accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in a second presidential debate next month, putting pressure on former President Donald J. Trump to join her for a rematch.

Ms. Harris was widely seen to have won her first debate with Mr. Trump, according to polling, and her campaign has been seeking a second debate almost since the first one ended. But Mr. Trump has repeatedly ruled out a second face-off with the vice president, and on Saturday he said that it was “too late” for a second debate because early voting had begun in a few states.

In a social media post on Saturday, Ms. Harris said she had “gladly” accepted CNN’s invitation for an Oct. 23 face-off, adding that she hoped Mr. Trump would join her.

The post was part of a public effort by the Harris campaign that also included statements announcing her decision issued by Brian Fallon, a campaign spokesman, and Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair.

“The American people deserve another opportunity to see Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate before they cast their ballots,” Ms. O’Malley Dillon said in her statement. “It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate.”

At a rally in Wilmington, N.C., on Saturday, Mr. Trump once again rejected the idea of another debate, insisting that he won his debate against Ms. Harris and blaming timing. “The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late,” he said. “Voting has already started.”

But Mr. Trump had previously pushed for a debate on Sept. 25 on NBC, after the start of mail and early voting in several states. And his final debate during his 2020 campaign was on Oct. 22.

Some of Mr. Trump’s advisers want him to debate again, or at least want him to consider it, according to two people familiar with their thinking. But Mr. Trump has told people privately that he does not want to do so, they said, even as he has solicited other opinions.

“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Mr. Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, two days after the first debate, which he claimed to have won.

Mr. Trump squared off with President Biden in a debate in June in Atlanta, where Mr. Biden gave a halting performance that stunned Democrats and ultimately led him to leave the race less than a month later.

At the first debate between Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump, she appeared to get under his skin, and he delivered a fact-challenged performance that was poorly received by many viewers.

Ms. Harris received better reviews after the debate, with 67 percent of likely voters saying she did well compared with 40 percent for Mr. Trump, according to polling from The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College. But the face-off did not significantly alter the trajectory of the race, which appears essentially tied.

On Saturday, CNN urged Mr. Trump to join Ms. Harris for a second debate, saying that it would help inform a divided electorate.

“Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump received an invitation to participate in a CNN debate this fall as we believe the American people would benefit from a second debate,” CNN said in a statement, adding, “We look forward to receiving a response from both campaigns so the American public can hear more from these candidates.”

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