Harris Accepts, Trump Declines Second Debate on CNN

The debate would take place at CNN’s studios in Atlanta on Oct. 23.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 21 accepted an invitation from CNN to debate former President Donald Trump for a second time, though the prospect of another showdown between the presidential candidates appears highly unlikely as the former president told rallygoers in North Carolina on the same day that the proposed date is too late in the election cycle for a debate.

“I will gladly accept a second presidential debate on October 23. I hope @realDonaldTrump will join me,” Harris said in a post on X, in response to a post from CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins.

The Trump campaign responded to an inquiry from The Epoch Times regarding CNN’s invitation by pointing to Trump’s Sept. 12 post on Truth Social, which states emphatically that there won’t be a subsequent debate.

Later on Sept. 21, an afternoon rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, Trump said he was told about the CNN debate proposal as he was disembarking from his plane, and framed the invitation as a desperate attempt to revive a supposedly failing campaign.

Trump said that a potential second debate against Harris would be “good entertainment value” but added that there wouldn’t be much point because of timing.

“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late, voting has already started,” the former president said, adding that he previously issued an invitation to Harris to debate on Fox, which she declined.

“Fox invited us on and I waited and waited, they turned it down,” Trump said. “But now she wants to do a debate right before the election with CNN because she’s losing badly.”

The proposed debate would take place at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, according to the network, and would follow essentially the same format as Trump’s debate with President Joe Biden in June.

If an Oct. 23 debate went ahead, Trump and Harris would respond to moderators’ questions for 90 minutes without a live studio audience.

“Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump received an invitation to participate in a CNN debate this fall as we believe the American people would benefit from a second debate between the two candidates for President of the United States,” CNN said in a statement.

“We look forward to receiving a response from both campaigns so the American public can hear more from these candidates as they make their final decision.”

Trump’s remarks in North Carolina on Saturday reinforce the position he expressed after his first debate against Harris, saying that there would be no subsequent debate between the two rivals.

At the time, Trump used a metaphor likening the vice president to a boxer or a UFC fighter who lost a match.

“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I want a rematch’” the former president wrote on social media, partly in all caps, before suggesting that he “won the debate,” citing undisclosed polls.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.