Kamala Harris issued another challenge to her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, urging him to participate in a second debate before the November presidential election. Speaking to supporters in New York, Harris claimed Trump “seems to be searching for an excuse” to avoid the rematch.
On Saturday, the vice president and Democratic candidate confirmed she had accepted CNN’s invitation for an October debate with Trump, but the former president dismissed it as “too late.”
During her remarks at a New York fundraiser, Harris reinforced her call for a second debate. “I think we should have another debate,” she said. “I’ve accepted an invitation for October, which my opponent seems reluctant to take up, but he should. We owe it to the American people to meet again before election day.”
The question of presidential debates has lingered since Joe Biden dropped out of the race after his poor performance in June. The first and only debate between Trump and Harris, earlier this month, was generally seen as a win for Harris and a blow to Trump.
However, the debate didn’t result in the polling surge Harris’s campaign had hoped for, as she continues to introduce herself to voters. Last week, she appeared on Oprah to further this effort.
This week, Harris is set to unveil a new set of economic policies. Polls indicate she is gaining trust on economic issues, an area typically dominated by Trump and the Republican Party.
On Sunday, Harris focused on the core Democratic message: the threat they believe a second Trump term poses to democracy and the razor-thin margin polls show in the race.
“This is a man who said he would act as a dictator on day one … just imagine Trump with no guardrails,” Harris warned in New York. “This race couldn’t be tighter. We’re in a margin-of-error race, and I’m running as the underdog.”
Harris described Trump as “unserious,” but stressed that the stakes of his return to the White House are “very serious.”
While national head-to-head polls show Harris with a slight lead, the battle remains much closer in key swing states. This contrasts with earlier in the race, when Trump held a solid advantage over Biden before the president’s exit.
