TV duel between Harris and Trump set for September 10th.
Trump had previously proposed three TV duels with Harris in the coming month during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida - on September 4, 10, and 25. However, he mistakenly named NBC as the host of the September 10 debate, instead of ABC. Trump's team later clarified that he had erred and that ABC had been chosen for the September 10 debate.
It remained unclear whether there would be one debate announced by ABC or three in total. Neither NBC nor Fox News, the network Trump suggested for the September 4 debate, had made any statements on the matter.
There had been a back-and-forth between Trump and the Harris campaign regarding the TV debates a few days prior. Before Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race, following concerns about his mental fitness sparked by his poor performance in the June TV debate with Trump, a second debate on September 10 had been agreed upon with ABC.
Initially, Trump refused to debate Harris, the new Democratic nominee, on that date, proposing instead a debate on September 4 on the right-leaning, friendly network Fox News. The Harris campaign accused Trump of having "fear" and trying to "dodge" the debate. Trump's suggestion of three debates seemed to be an attempt to dispel that accusation.
The Harris campaign expressed concern over Trump's initial refusal to debate on September 10, stating that he had fear and was trying to dodge the debate. The Commission, responsible for organizing the debates, ultimately announced two debates between Trump and Harris, one on September 4 and the other on September 25, with ABC hosting the former and NBC hosting the latter.
