Vice President Harris’s campaign painted former President Trump as too scared to debate her after his latest remarks questioning why he should participate in a debate.
Trump told Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo this week that he wants to debate his likely Democratic opponent, but added, “I mean right now I say, why should I do a debate? I’m leading in the polls. And, everybody knows her, everybody knows me.”
Harris for President co-Chair Cedric Richmond responded to the comments, saying Trump “needs to man up.”
“He’s got no problem spreading lies and hateful garbage at his rallies or in interviews with right-wing commentators. But he’s apparently too scared to do it standing across the stage from the Vice President of the United States,” Richmond said. “Since he talks the talk, he should walk the walk and – as Vice President Harris said earlier this week – say it to her face on September 10. She’ll be there waiting to see if he’ll show up.”
Harris remarked that Trump should “say it to my face” during a rally in Atlanta on Tuesday. She has been ramping up the pressure for Trump to debate, exchanging barbs with him over the past week about the prospects of a general election debate.
The Democratic National Committee announced it is launching a digital homepage takeover starting Saturday to slam Trump for being “afraid to debate.” The takeover will start in Atlanta and continue with newspapers across battleground states.
Trump in recent days has increasingly hedged over the prospect of debating Harris. He first told reporters last week that he would “absolutely” debate the vice president, followed by his campaign declining to commit to a debate until she is the official nominee and capped by the former president telling Fox News he’d “probably” debate her but could make the case not to.
The Trump and Biden campaigns had agreed to a Sept. 10 debate hosted by ABC News, but Trump has suggested the change in candidate atop the Democratic ticket has given him room to push for changes, potentially involving the host or format.