Trump rejects calls for another debate with Harris after VP showdown

Former President Trump late Tuesday again rejected the prospect of another debate with Vice President Harris following a showdown between the two vice presidential nominees, saying he was “not looking to do it again.”

Harris and her campaign have for weeks pushed for a second debate with Trump, and they did so again immediately after the vice presidential debate between Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

“Vice President Harris believes that the American people deserve to see her and Trump on the debate stage one more time. She will be in Atlanta on October 23 — Donald Trump should step up and face the voters,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement, referencing a CNN debate Harris has agreed to attend.

But Trump has repeatedly rejected the idea of doing another debate with the vice president. He has insisted he won their Sept. 10 showdown, despite some polling suggesting otherwise, and that it is too late for another debate with early voting underway.

“I beat Biden, I then beat her, and I’m not looking to do it again, too far down the line,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Votes are already cast — And I’m leading BIG in the Polls. I’ll MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, she’s incapable of it!”

Polling released Wednesday from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report found Harris leading Trump in five out of seven battleground states, though all are within 3 percentage points.

Harris leads in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, while Trump is ahead by 2 points in Georgia. The two candidates are tied in North Carolina, the poll found.

The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling aggregate has Harris up by 4.5 points nationally, garnering 50.3 percent to the former president’s 45.8 percent.