Harris agrees to a second debate, but Trump declines

Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday that she had accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in a second presidential debate next month, putting pressure on former President Donald Trump to join her for a rematch.

Harris was widely seen to have won her first debate with Trump, according to polling, and her campaign has been seeking a second debate almost since the first one ended. But Trump has repeatedly ruled out a second faceoff with the vice president, and Saturday, he said that it was “too late” for a second debate because early voting had begun in a few states.

In a social media post Saturday, Harris said she had “gladly” accepted CNN’s invitation for an Oct. 23 faceoff, adding that she hoped Trump would join her.

The post was part of a public effort by the Harris campaign that also included statements announcing her decision issued by Brian Fallon, a campaign spokesperson, and Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair.

“The American people deserve another opportunity to see Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate before they cast their ballots,” O’Malley Dillon said in her statement. “It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate.”

At a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday, Trump once again rejected the idea of another debate, insisting that he won his debate against Harris and blaming timing. “The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late,” he said. “Voting has already started.”

But Trump had previously pushed for a debate Sept. 25 on NBC, after the start of mail and early voting in several states. And his final debate during his 2020 campaign was Oct. 22.

Some of Trump’s advisers want him to debate again, or at least want him to consider it, according to two people familiar with their thinking. But Trump has told people privately that he does not want to do so, they said, even as he has solicited other opinions.

“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, two days after the first debate, which he claimed to have won.

Trump squared off with President Joe Biden in a debate in June in Atlanta, where Biden gave a halting performance that stunned Democrats and ultimately led him to leave the race less than a month later.

At the first debate between Harris and Trump, she appeared to get under his skin, and he delivered a fact-challenged performance that was poorly received by many viewers.

Harris received better reviews after the debate, with 67% of likely voters saying she did well compared with 40% for Trump, according to polling from The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College. But the faceoff did not significantly alter the trajectory of the race, which appears essentially tied.

On Saturday, CNN urged Trump to join Harris for a second debate, saying that it would help inform a divided electorate.

“Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump received an invitation to participate in a CNN debate this fall as we believe the American people would benefit from a second debate,” CNN said in a statement, adding, “We look forward to receiving a response from both campaigns so the American public can hear more from these candidates.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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