Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center in Atlanta on September 20, 2024. Harris spoke about abortion and reproductive rights in Georgia as she continues her campaign against Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump.
Joe Raedl | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Saturday she would be open to a second debate with former President Donald Trump in October, ahead of the November US presidential election.
Jen O’Malley Dillon, campaign chair for Harris and running mate Tim Walz, said in a statement that Harris has accepted CNN’s invitation to debate on October 23, less than two weeks before the election.
“I would be happy to accommodate the second presidential debate on October 23rd and hope @realDonaldTrump will join me,” Harris wrote in a social media post to X.
This isn’t the first time the Harris campaign has proposed another debate: Shortly after Harris and Trump appeared on ABC News’ September 10 debate, O’Malley Dillon said Harris was ready to face him in the second round. But Trump declined to debate Harris again because of the millions of dollars she had raised after the campaign.
In a post on September 12th Trump Media & Technology Group Speaking on the social network Truth Social, the Republican presidential candidate said there would be “no third debate.”
On Saturday, a Trump campaign spokesperson told CNBC citing a post from Trump’s Truth Social that the third debate would not take place.
“She’s only had one debate,” Trump said Saturday at a rally in Wilmington, N.C. “I’ve had two. It’s too late to do another one. I would have liked to do it in many ways, but it’s too late now. The votes are over.”
Trump’s first debate of 2024 was against current President Joe Biden. CNN hosted the event in June. But Biden struggled on the debate stage. Democratic donors expressed concern about Biden’s prospects, and Democratic lawmakers called on him to stop campaigning. Harris accepted the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August.
“Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate,” O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “It is the same format and structure as the CNN debate that Trump participated in and claimed victory in June, when he praised CNN’s moderators, rules and ratings.”
—CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto contributed to this report.
WATCH: Harris’ debate win didn’t influence voters’ decisions, says Pimco’s Libby Cantril
