Trump says Harris ‘afraid’ to accept Fox News debate

Former President Trump said Tuesday that Vice President Harris is “afraid” to accept a debate with him on Fox News despite him pulling out of a previously agreed debate on ABC News next month.

“Kamabla Harris is afraid to Debate me on FoxNews. he wrote on Truth Social early Tuesday morning. “She will be easier to defeat on the Debate Stage than Crooked Joe Biden, just watch!”

Trump and President Biden agreed to a Sept. 10 debate hosted by ABC News, and Harris’s campaign has been ramping up pressure for the former president to meet her on the stage instead. Trump has been hesitant to commit to a debate since Biden withdrew from the race last month, questioning why he should debate her if he was ahead in the polls — a similar argument he made when he skipped the GOP primary debates.

“I mean right now I say, why should I do a debate?” Trump told Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo last week. “I’m leading in the polls. And, everybody knows her, everybody knows me.”

Just a few days later, he announced he accepted a debate to be hosted by Fox News on Sept. 4 and that he would not attend the one hosted by ABC.

The Harris campaign said Trump is looking to Fox News to “bail him out” and called on him again to debate the vice president, who recently clinched the Democratic nomination, at the previously agreed upon date. Communications Director Michael Tyler instead accused Trump of being “scared” in a statement about the Fox News debate.

“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” he said. “He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept. 10. The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience.”

Harris earned enough delegates this week to become the Democratic nominee as her campaign continues to gain momentum. A CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday showed Harris with a 1-point lead over the former president nationally and showed her tied with Trump across key battleground states.

The Hill has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.