Kamala Harris and Donald Trump spar over debate dates

Washington DC - Kamala Harris's campaign branded Donald Trump "scared" Saturday after he proposed to change the presidential debate schedule ahead of a rally in Georgia where he will try to halt the vice president's surging momentum in her bid to become America's first woman president.

The campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris (r.) has brushed off Republican Donald Trump's (l.) announcement that he would agree to a Fox News debate in September.
The campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris (r.) has brushed off Republican Donald Trump's (l.) announcement that he would agree to a Fox News debate in September.  © Collage: SPENCER PLATT / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

In an overnight post on his Truth Social app, Trump said he was willing to debate Harris on the conservative Fox News network on September 4, while declining to participate in a previously scheduled debate on ABC.

Trump pitched the idea before going to a rally in Atlanta, where he will gather supporters in the same arena where Harris addressed an excited crowd of some 10,000 just this Tuesday.

Trump said he had "agreed" to the debate plan with Fox. And he said it would take place in Pennsylvania – a crucial swing state – in front of a live audience.

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The Harris campaign dismissed this as "games."

"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," Harris's campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement.

"He needs to... show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10."

Trump tries to recapture the campaign momentum he had against Biden

President Joe Biden (r.) and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (l.) participate in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections at CNN's studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024.
President Joe Biden (r.) and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (l.) participate in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections at CNN's studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024.  © CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA / AFP

The proposal to confront Harris on a network that has long supported him was the latest Trump effort to recapture the initiative in a campaign that had been entirely focused on a rematch against 81-year-old Joe Biden, until he dramatically dropped his reelection bid on July 21.

Since then, Harris (59) has reenergized the Democratic base almost overnight.

She has raked in donations, reassembled the team behind Barack Obama's two historic election victories, and neutralized the solid lead that 78-year-old Trump had built against Biden in opinion polls.

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On Friday, she secured the official Democratic nomination, backed by near unanimous party support.

Harris is due imminently to announce her vice presidential pick, with the popular governor of key state Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, a frontrunner. On Tuesday, she is set to launch a countrywide tour with her yet-to-be-named running mate.

Cover photo: Collage: SPENCER PLATT / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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