Kamala Harris preps for US poll debate, says Donald Trump is ‘scared’ to attend: ‘Will be there on Sept 10…’

The possibility of a Kamala Harris-Donald Trump debate dwindled this week as the two sides failed to agree on a date and location for the face-off. Democrats insisted that the former POTUS is running ‘scared’ as he proposed a fresh date and venue for the debate in an overnight post.

“It’s interesting how ‘any time, any place’ becomes ‘one specific time, one specific safe space’. I’ll be there on September 10, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there,” the Democratic candidate wrote on X.

The Harris campaign also claimed that Trump was “running scared and trying to back out of the debate”. The Republican leader suggested early on Saturday that the debate be held on Fox news in less than 24 hours before a live audience. The proposal to confront Harris on a network that has long supported him appeared to be 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.

It was not immediately clear whether ABC would turn its September 10 event into a Harris town hall in Trump's absence. 

Harris has made substantial gains in national polling recently and appears to present a much stronger challenge to Trump on the debate stage than President Biden. The latter had made headlines after struggling to articulate a clear message during his faltering debate performance in June.

Trump meanwhile insisted that his initial acquiescence for a debate on September 10 had been “terminated” as he was no longer slated to face President Joe Biden. The Republican leader had agreed to that debate in May — before Biden dropped out of the race.

“I’ll see her on September 4 or, I won’t see her at all,” he insisted in a social media post on Saturday. 

(With inputs from agencies)