Officials in Donald Trump's campaign are upset about Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign trying to push for a second debate in October, arguing that the Democratic candidate should agree to a Sept. 25 debate hosted by NBC News alongside the former president.
“They're not serious,” a Trump campaign spokesman told The Post on Thursday when asked about the stalemate.
“[Trump] They accepted three debates. They need to stop messing around.”
The 45th President had initially indicated his intention to debate with Fox News on September 4 and ABC News on September 10, in addition to NBC, but the vice president's staff was only receptive to the debate with ABC News, which had previously been agreed to by President Trump and President Biden.
Trump, 78, is holding a town hall event with Fox News host Sean Hannity in Pennsylvania in lieu of the Sept. 4 debate, and is planning a similar event with NBC News if the Sept. 25 debate doesn't go ahead, The Washington Post previously reported.
After Tuesday's debate in Philadelphia was deemed the winner by most experts and pollsters, Democratic campaign communications director Michal Tyler told The Washington Post that the campaign “hopes to hold another debate in October.”
“We've had initial discussions about a second debate and we're hopeful that a second debate will happen if Donald Trump is willing to return,” Tyler said.
“We accepted a September debate… why October?” Trump spokesman Robert Mueller said Thursday.
Another Trump spokeswoman, Caroline Leavitt, sounded open to discussing an October debate, saying the campaign was “absolutely” open to discussions, but maintained she wanted the debate to take place later this month.
“President Trump has promised three debates this election cycle. Only one has happened so far. Kamala Harris has only promised one. We're already committed to the NBC debate on the 25th,” Leavitt told The Post after Tuesday's debate.
Trump adviser Tim Murtaugh argued this week that the Harris campaign was pushing for another debate because “she knows she still has work to do.”
The former president himself has been the most cynical of his team about the possibility of a second debate with Harris or a third general election.
“Once you win once, you don't necessarily have to do it a second time, so let's see what happens,” the Republican candidate said Wednesday during a visit to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to mark the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“I'll do NBC, I'll do Fox, but at this point I have to decide if that's something I want to do.”
Among Republicans, ABC's debate was widely seen as unfair to Trump, with hosts David Muir and Lindsey Davis repeatedly interjecting to fact-check the former president but not Harris.
Harris' team and NBC did not immediately respond to The Washington Post's inquiries.
