NBC NEWS
Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will not participate in any future debates against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“There will be no debate,” he said in all-caps on his Truth Social website, before criticizing the vice president’s debate performance. Asked by NBC News for clarification on Trump’s remarks, Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, “You heard the man.”
His remarks come just two days after he and Harris met in Philadelphia for a prime-time debate sponsored by ABC News.
The two sparred over inflation, abortion and immigration, and Trump made several false or misleading remarks that were fact-checked live by moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis. His use of conspiracy theories and inflammatory remarks has sparked concern among his allies.
Trump has claimed the moderators were unfair and was initially noncommittal about participating in another matchup with Harris.
The two candidates have not formally agreed to any other debates, but multiple networks have said they were in talks to schedule one.
In multiple TruthSocial posts, Trump had said he was considering debate offers from Fox, CBS and NBC. Last month, NBC confirmed that it had offered Sept. 25 for a potential debate.
During an interview with “Fox and Friends” on Wednesday, host Steve Doocy said the network on Tuesday night had offered the Trump and Harris campaigns three potential dates in October for an additional debate. In response, Trump said: “Well, I wouldn’t want to have Martha [MacCallum] and Bret [Baier]. I’d love to have somebody else other than Martha and Bret.”
Fox News had proposed to both campaigns a debate on Sept. 4 to be hosted by anchors MacCallum and Baier, but that date passed without the campaigns agreeing to meet.
A representative for NBC declined to comment. Representatives for CBS and Fox did not immediately respond to requests for comment
When asked for comment, the Harris campaign pointed to her remarks in North Carolina on Thursday: “I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate, because this election and what are at stake could not be more important.”
