Trump and Harris Additional TV Debate Canceled... Trump Says "It's Too Late"

Harris Accepts CNN Debate on 23rd Next Month... Urges Trump Side to Join
Trump Rejects... "CNN Criticized by Radical Leftists, Will Never Be Fair Again"

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in the United States, refused an additional TV debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, on the 21st (local time). Interest had been focused on whether an additional debate would be held following the first debate on the 10th, but it appears that no further TV debates between former President Trump and Vice President Harris will take place.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former President Trump said at a rally held in Wilmington, North Carolina, a key battleground state, that "the problem with having an additional debate is that it is too late" and "voting has already started." This was interpreted to mean that mail-in and in-person early voting had begun in some states. In Alabama, mail-in ballots began to be sent out on the 11th, and the day before, Virginia, South Dakota, and Minnesota became the first three states among the 50 states in the U.S. to start in-person early voting.

Vice President Harris has been pressuring former President Trump to participate in an additional debate since the first presidential candidate TV debate hosted by ABC on the 10th. She proposed an additional debate immediately after the first debate ended and has since argued that it is the duty of the two candidates vying for the next presidency to hold debates to clearly present their policies and beliefs to American voters. Harris's campaign also announced on this day that they accepted an invitation from CNN for a TV debate scheduled for the 23rd of next month and urged former President Trump to join.

Former President Trump initially refused an additional debate, claiming victory in the first debate, but at a press conference on the 13th, he left the possibility open by saying, "Maybe if I feel good..."

Former President Trump also cited another reason for refusing an additional debate, praising CNN, which hosted the debate with President Joe Biden on June 27th, as "very fair," but added, "They were criticized by radical left-wing lunatics. In other words, they will never be fair again."