The Harris campaign has confirmed Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in two debates against former president Donald Trump.
The Harris–Walz 2024 campaign has issued a statement that Vice President Kamala Harris is prepared to hold no more than two debates against former President Donald Trump—one is the previously agreed to Sept. 10 showdown on ABC, and the second will take place in October at an undisclosed time and with an unspecified network.
Asserting that the “debate about debates is over,” Harris–Walz campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in an Aug. 15 statement that the Trump campaign had accepted a proposal to hold a total of three debates—two presidential and one vice presidential.
“The American people will have another opportunity to see the vice president and Donald Trump on the debate stage in October,” Tyler wrote.
The statement was made after vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) agreed to an Oct. 1 debate in New York City on CBS against Democrat rival Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Vance also pushed for more debates.
While Walz hasn’t issued a response to Vance’s proposal for a Sept. 18 debate on CNN, Tyler’s statement suggests that Harris’s running mate will partake in the one debate.
Like Vance, Trump has pushed for more debates against his rival, who has faced criticism for her lack of media availability since she became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
Harris had previously declined Trump’s proposal for a Sept. 4 debate on Fox, insisting on adhering to the Sept. 10 debate on ABC that President Joe Biden had agreed to.
When Trump debated Biden on June 27, CNN held the event in an empty Atlanta studio. Both Trump and Vance have called for any future debates to be held before a live audience.
The Sept. 4 Fox News event—now apparently a town hall—is to be aired live from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
On Sept. 25, NBC will host an event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Janice Hisle contributed to this story.