When Will Donald Trump Debate Kamala Harris? — Updates on ABC News, Possible Fox News Face-Offs

Matt Webb Mitovich
·2 min read
4
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

When will America get its first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris?

Trump, the Republican nominee, faced off against President Joe Biden on June 27, in a memorable debate that aired on CNN and instantly elevated concerns about Biden’s age and acuity. That set in motion a series of events that led the incumbent POTUS to ultimately drop out of the 2024 race. (n a TVLine poll, nearly 70% said that Trump bested Biden in that first debate of the election cycle.)

More from TVLine

In announcing his withdrawn bid for reelection on July 21, Biden threw his support behind veep Harris, who promptly secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee. The Democratic National Convention should make things official once it kicks off Aug. 19 in Chicago.

Assuming Harris locks down her party’s nomination, she could square off against Trump as soon three weeks later. Back in the spring, both Trump and Biden agreed to a second presidential debate to be held Sept. 10 and air on ABC, with ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis moderating, but soon after Biden dropped out of the race, Trump said on Truth Social that any next debate “should be held on Fox News, rather than very biased ABC.”

More recently, during a Tuesday press call (per Politico and others), Trump said that while he is “not thrilled with ABC” — “They’re actually trying to make a hero out of Joe Biden,” he opined, and framing Harris’ candidacy as a “wonderful thing” — he did affirm that he “would be willing to do more than one debate” against his new opponent.

Fox News has since sent a letter to the Harris and Trump campaigns proposing a debate on Sept. 17 in Pennsylvania, “just as early voting is getting underway there and in other key battlegrounds,” Fox News Media president Jay Wallace and Fox News VP of Politics Jessica Loker wrote.

The cable newser pitched Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum as moderators, adding, “We are open to discussion on the exact date, format and location — with or without an audience.”

Neither Trump nor Harris have yet to agree to the proposed Fox News debate; TVLine has reached out to ABC News for comment on the Sept. 10 debate’s status.

Election Day this year is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Best of TVLine

Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter