DETROIT: US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic opponent Kamala Harris will debate on Sept 10 on ABC, setting up the first face-to-face match-up between the rivals in what polls show is a close race.

In a news conference at his Palm Beach, Florida, residence, Trump said he wanted additional debates on Sept 4 and Sept 25 that would air on Fox and NBC.

Harris said in a post on X that she was looking forward to the Sept 10 debate after Trump “finally committed”. She told reporters after a Detroit-area campaign stop that she was open to discussing more debates, but a campaign official reiterated their position that a Sept 4 Fox debate is off the table.

Discussions on future debates depend on Trump’s participating in the Sept 10 debate on ABC, the official said. The Harris campaign had already opposed a Fox debate, saying the host network should be one that sponsored recent primary debates by both parties.

Biden and Kamala to hit trail next week for first time since switch-up

Trump previously suggested he might back out of the ABC debate, scheduled before Harris, the US vice president, replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate less than three weeks ago, upending the contest. The Sept 10 debate on ABC was to be the second of two agreed upon between Biden and Trump, following their June 27 debate on CNN.

An Ipsos poll published on Thursday found Harris has widened her lead over Trump since late July. She leads Trump 42 per cent to 37pc, compared with a July 22-23 Reuters/Ipsos survey that showed her up 37pc to 34pc over Trump.

First joint campaign

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden will next week make their first joint campaign trip since the US president’s shock decision to drop out of the 2024 White House race against Donald Trump.

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Seeking to burnish his legacy in his final months in office and support the new Democratic ticket, Biden will appear alongside his vice president at an event in the state of Maryland near Washington on August 15.

The pair would “discuss the progress they are making to lower costs for the American people”, the White House said in a statement Friday, adding that further details would be released later.

Inflation remains a weak spot for Democrats ahead of November’s election.

Harris has fired up the Democratic Party since Biden announced he was stepping aside following a disastrous debate against Trump that highlighted concerns about his age and mental acuity.

The first female, Black and South Asian vice president in US history has held a series of packed rallies, pulled in record fundraising and wiped out Republican ex-president Trump’s poll lead.

In contrast, Biden has kept a low profile with few public events, in what has become a lame duck presidency with nearly six months still until his successor takes power in January.

The president, who is currently spending a long weekend at his Delaware beach house, had not been expected to make any major political appearances in support of Harris until the Democratic National Convention starting on August 19 in Chicago.

But there have also been signs that the veteran Democrat is keen to promote his legacy as he prepares to bow out from a nearly five-decade career in US politics.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024