The 2024 presidential campaign has already featured a number of unprecedented moments. You can add the debates to that list, as it remains unclear if Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris will ever face off in a formal debate.
Indeed, each candidate has so far agreed to attend a different showdown.
Trump had previously agreed to debate President Biden on Sept. 10, with ABC News as a host. But once Harris emerged as Biden’s replacement, Trump became noncommittal about the ABC News event. And Trump announced late Friday that the agreement “has been terminated,” citing Biden’s withdrawal as a reason.
Trump said he would instead accept a Fox News counterproposal for a Sept. 4 debate. Though the details hadn’t been ironed out yet, Trump declared there would be “A FULL ARENA AUDIENCE!”
Harris, for her part, has publicly pressured Trump to meet her onstage for the ABC News debate since jumping into the race, even challenging her opponent to “say it to my face” at one rally.
Here’s where things stand.
↩️Biden, Trump bypass debate traditions
In every presidential election since 1988, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has planned the debates, allowing the events to be simultaneously broadcast by major television networks and radio stations. The commission had planned its traditional three presidential and one vice presidential debates for September and October, with universities set to host each one.
But both Biden and Trump balked at letting the commission take charge this year, leaving it with an uncertain future. Instead they would agree to their own rules and have two debates directly hosted by television networks: one by CNN and one by ABC News.
The CNN debate occurred earlier this summer and featured Biden repeatedly losing his train of thought. Democrats began pressuring him to leave the race and he ultimately did so, with Vice President Harris easily sweeping up the necessary delegates to secure the nomination.
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🔤The ABC News debate
Trump and Biden had been set to face off a second time on Sept. 10, with ABC News hosting the event.
But in addition to changing his tone since Harris’s entry, Trump has escalated his attacks against the Disney-owned network after Biden dropped out of the presidential contest. “Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network,” Trump told ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott at a Black journalists convention earlier this week.
As a reason for pulling out of the ABC News debate, Trump points to his defamation lawsuit against ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos, though he filed the lawsuit in March, before he agreed to the debate with Biden, and Stephanopoulos is not one of the debate moderators.
An ABC network source told CNN on Friday that it is still “full steam ahead” with its debate plans. The event is set to be moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis.
“The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience,” the Harris campaign said Saturday of the ABC News event. “We’re happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to.”
🦊The Fox plan
When Biden withdrew from the race, other networks saw it as a fresh opportunity to pitch the campaigns again on hosting a debate themselves.
Fox News released a public letter to both the Harris and Trump campaigns proposing a Sept. 17 debate in Pennsylvania, moderated by political anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
The letter appeared to acknowledge concerns that Democrats might have about appearing on the conservative network, whose primetime lineup features a barrage of attacks against their candidates.
“As you recall, despite not having a Democratic debate in 2016/2020, Fox News was able to secure town halls with Democratic candidates,” the letter said. “We are open to discussion on the exact date, format and location — with or without an audience,” it offered.
Trump’s debate announcement featured the same hosts and location as the original Fox News proposal, though Sept. 4 is almost two weeks earlier. The GOP candidate said if Harris doesn’t show, he’d attend a “major Town Hall” with Fox News instead.
⁉️ Will anyone break the stalemate
As of now, the 2024 presidential race has two more debates on the books — but neither one features both candidates. For the candidates to meet at one of these events, one of them will have to give in to the other, which carries its own set of political calculations.
It’s possible another network could emerge as a compromise between the two candidates. CNN reported that NBC News is “in ongoing discussion with the campaigns,” but it’s unclear what type of event might be under discussion.
Additionally, before Biden left the presidential race, Harris had agreed to a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News. A date had not been scheduled for the event. Harris is expected to soon announce her vice presidential candidate. It remains to be seen if that person might face off against Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance in a debate.
There is another very plausible scenario for Harris and Trump: They never meet onstage, and
Americans go to the polls in November never having seen the two major presidential nominees face off for the first time since 1972.
➕ Read more
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ABC News still ‘full steam ahead’ with presidential debate, despite Trump backing off commitment. “The network’s plan could still be upended like so many other institutions and traditions this year.” [CNN]
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Harris claims Trump is ‘running scared’ to Fox News after backing out of ABC debate. “Running straight to Fox News to bail him out.” [Independent]
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Trump’s defamation lawsuit against ABC, George Stephanopoulos can move forward, judge rules. “A Florida judge rejected ABC’s motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit.” [Fox News]
