WASHINGTON – Donald Trump tried to pressure Kamala Harris into a debate with him by publicly accepting several invitations while her campaign team insisted on negotiating terms first. Now he is raising doubts about whether he will agree to another face-to-face meeting with his Democratic opponent.
Moments after leaving the debate stage Tuesday night in a performance that was quickly panned by some Republicans, Trump began to reject the idea of ​​participating in another debate – a reversal from his previous argument that he was ready for multiple debates and that Harris was hiding.
Trump’s campaign said before the debate that he had already accepted invitations from Fox News and NBC News, but Harris had not. In interviews after the debate, however, Trump remained noncommittal. On Truth Social, he explained his victory by asking, “Why would I participate in a rematch?”
“If you win the debate, I don’t know if I want to have another debate,” the former president told Fox News on Wednesday morning.
Trump viewed his first debate of the season against Joe Biden as a resounding success – not only did Republicans accuse him of showing restraint, but Biden’s performance ultimately led to his resignation. After the perceived victory, Trump’s strategic goal seemed to be to push Harris into multiple debates, and Harris rebuffed a request for one on Fox News in early September.
But the debate on Tuesday evening did not go like the duel before.
“She was extremely well prepared. She set traps and he chased every rabbit down every hole instead of talking about the things he should have been talking about,” former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Trump ally and later critic, said in an interview with ABC News after the debate.
Trump’s allies, who tended to defend his performance, dismissed criticism of his poor debate and blamed the moderators. One said the highlight of the evening was the final minute, when he delivered a closing speech. Trump told reporters Tuesday night he might consider another debate if it was broadcast by a “fair” network.
Harris has not agreed to a second debate with Trump, but her campaign team seemed more open on Wednesday.
“This was fun,” Brian Fallon, a top speaker, wrote on X. “Let’s do it again in October.”
If the candidates did not meet more than once for a debate, it would contradict all modern historical precedents.
Trump’s campaign team had warned in a conference call before the debate that Tuesday’s argument might be “the only debate” in which Trump and Harris actually participated, thus placing the responsibility on Harris.
Now Trump’s campaign team announced that he is still waiting for a final decision.
“We accepted Fox, they declined. We accepted ABC, they argued about the rules and finally agreed. We accepted NBC for September 25, they declined,” Trump senior adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement to NBC News on Wednesday. “So President Trump said he would decide later.” (An NBC News spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether the network’s invitation still stands and who accepted it.)
Hughes said Harris had “missed the moment” and still hadn’t fulfilled her record in the White House, and said that was the reason for her team’s enthusiasm for a rematch.
“But the most important clue here is that Harris has not been able to explain why she has not yet done the things she claims are important. She has failed for nearly four years and has failed to shirk her responsibility,” Hughes said. “She missed the moment and lost, so it’s no wonder her team is doing everything they can to try again.”
Eric Levine, a Republican fundraiser from New York, said Trump needs to return to the debate stage if only to elicit better answers from his opponent after moderators failed to do so on Tuesday.
“He missed one opportunity after another to destroy them,” Levine said.
Still, Levine said he knew what challenge Trump would face if they faced each other again. “She’s like a hologram. Getting substance out of her is like nailing Jell-O to the wall,” he added.
