Trump rejects Harris’ challenge to debate again on CNN

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump on Saturday rejected another debate with Vice President Kamala Harris before the US presidential election, hours after the Democratic candidate's campaign said she had agreed to an October 23 matchup with her Republican rival on CNN.

"Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share a stage with Donald Trump, and she has accepted CNN's invitation to a debate on October 23. Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate," Jen O'Malley Dillon, the chair of the Harris campaign, said in a statement.

Trump stuck to his previous position that there would not be another debate before voters go to the polls in the November 5 election.

Harris accepts CNN debate invitation for Oct. 23, again challenging Trump to another showdown https://t.co/gT4kqlwyEm pic.twitter.com/CVB5zE9c1Z

— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) September 22, 2024

"The problem with another debate is that it's just too late. Voting has already started," the former US president told supporters at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Harris and Trump debated each other for the first time on Septembert 10, in a contest that polls showed she won.

Trump debated President Joe Biden in June.

Biden's shaky performance in that debate rattled Democrats and prompted strategists to ask whether their party should take the unprecedented step of replacing the 81-year old president as their candidate. Biden withdrew from the race for the White House in July.