On Tuesday night, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris finally debated each other in Philadelphia after months of negotiations around moderators, microphones, and other details. But that long-awaited showdown might be the last as Trump appeared to close the door on a subsequent debate with only weeks to go before Election Day. The Harris campaign, in the midst of a victory lap after the vice-president performed strongly on Tuesday, is enthused about a second meeting. But Trump, who has railed against Tuesday’s ABC moderators, claimed on social media that Harris skipped a proposed Fox News event and declared, “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” Here’s what we know about a potential second face-off between Harris and Trump.
Harris is all in
Most pundits and politicos declared Harris the clear winner of the first debate. Riding on that confidence, Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair, issued a statement minutes afterward declaring her candidate’s enthusiasm for another go-round. “Vice-President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?” she said.
Campaign spokesman Brian Fallon, who was involved in the contentious negotiations for the first matchup, echoed his colleague on social media and called for another debate next month. “That was fun. Let’s do it again in October,” he said.
Trump, at first reluctant, now says no more debates
After Harris’s team threw down the gauntlet, the Trump campaign cast its eagerness as a sign that she had lost the debate. Campaign adviser Chris LaCivita told the Washington Post, “Of course. They need clean-up.”
Trump himself dropped by the spin room on Tuesday night, telling the assembled media, “It was the best debate personally I’ve ever had.” But he also seemed to throw cold water on the idea of a sequel. “She wants to do another one because she was beaten tonight. I don’t know if we’re going to do another one,” he said.
During an appearance on Fox News Wednesday morning, Trump still seemed less than eager to have another debate. “I am not inclined to do it because I won by a lot, but we’ll see what happens,” he said.
By Thursday, Trump appeared to have closed the door entirely on another debate. In a TruthSocial post, the former president claimed victory in the Tuesday debate, but also claimed that Harris “was a no-show at the Fox Debate, and refused to do NBC & CBS.” (Last month, Trump declared that he had accepted three September debates, including one with Fox, that Harris’s camp seemingly did not agree to. He later took part in a solo Fox townhall earlier this month on his proposed date.)
“KAMALA SHOULD FOCUS ON WHAT SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE DURING THE LAST ALMOST FOUR YEAR PERIOD. THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!,” he wrote.
After Trump’s statement, Harris said, “Two nights ago Donald Trump and I had our first debate, and I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate because this election and what is at stake could not be more important.”
When a future debate might happen
The next scheduled debate is not between Harris and Trump but their running mates: Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Ohio senator J.D. Vance. The potential vice-presidents are slated to face off on October 1 on CBS.
In August, Trump said he had agreed to three debates for the following month: September 4, 10, and 25 with Fox News, ABC News, and NBC News respectively. (Joe Biden had previously agreed to the September 10 debate prior to dropping his bid for president following his disastrous performance against Trump in June. Harris eventually confirmed that she would participate on the same date.)
Trump has consistently raised the idea of a Fox News–hosted debate, suggesting the September 4 date as a possibility. It’s not yet clear if Harris would agree to an event moderated by the conservative network as her campaign never formally accepted an offer for the initial proposed date. A Fox News appearance could give Harris the opportunity to reach right-leaning voters, something she has embraced as her campaign has touted endorsements from prominent Republicans in recent weeks. However, it would mean subjecting herself to a network with a clear affinity for her opponent.
On Wednesday, Trump denounced the proposed moderators for the Fox event, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, due to their post-debate commentary. “I wouldn’t want to have Martha or Bret. I’d love to have somebody else other than Martha or Bret,” he said, floating Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, or Laura Ingraham, who are much friendlier to Trump, as possibilities. It’s safe to say Harris would steer clear of Fox if any of those names are involved.
During an appearance at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in Pennsylvania later that day, Trump said, “I’d do NBC, I’d do Fox too, but right now we have to determine whether we want to do it. We had a great night last night.”
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