Republican Donald Trump dismissed pressure to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, saying he was leading in the polls and voters already knew where he and his Democratic rival stood on the issues.
“Well, I want to,” Trump said Friday on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria. “Right now I say, ‘Why should I do a debate?’ I’m leading in the polls, and everybody knows her, everybody knows me.”
Harris, who is poised to become the Democratic presidential nominee in the coming days, has been pushing Trump to follow through with a debate he scheduled against President Joe Biden for Sept. 10 hosted by ABC News. In Trump’s first debate with Biden, the president delivered a disastrous performance that eventually led him to end his reelection bid and endorse Harris.
Trump’s campaign has had to shift its strategy now that he faces a new opponent just three months before Election Day. Harris has energized Democrats, including key blocs such as Black voters and young people, to narrow the Republican’s lead in the polls and overtake him in the money race.
The former president and his campaign have declined to commit to a debate, initially saying those plans could not be formalized until Democrats officially tapped their replacement for Biden. On Monday, Trump said he would “probably end up debating” Harris even as he insisted there was “a case for not doing it.”
Trump’s strategy of citing the polls to sidestep debates is one he used during the Republican primary contest, where he refused to take the stage with his rivals, regularly programming an event at the same time.
Even when former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was his only serious challenger remaining, Trump declined to debate her noting his large lead in the polls.
As the Trump campaign shifted to the general election, the former president regularly said he was willing to debate Biden. Their first debate, on June 27, came as Trump led the sitting president in polls.
Polls show Harris narrowing the gap with Trump and if surveys show her taking the lead that could ramp up pressure on Trump for a debate.
A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey conducted from July 24-28 found Harris erasing Trump’s lead among voters in seven battleground states likely to determine the election. Harris is backed by 48% of voters to 47% for Trump, an edge within the margin of error.
Trump in his interview Friday acknowledged there was “more enthusiasm” for Harris than Biden, but said that was inevitable because of Biden’s low favorability ratings.