Trump and Harris come to an agreement to debate: An Overview of the USA
This will be their first debate since Kamala Harris became the official presidential nominee for the Democratic Party on Aug. 5.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have agreed to their first public debate on Sept. 10, as confirmed by the ABC TV network.
This will be their first debate since Harris became the official presidential nominee for the Democratic Party on Aug. 5, following President Joe Biden’s decision to not seek re-election on July 21.
Trump announced at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that he agreed to the debate and suggested two additional debates, one with Fox News on Sept. 4 and another with NBC on Sept. 25.
Responding on the social media platform X, Harris stated, “I’ll be there on September 10th, as he agreed. I hope to see him there.” Harris has yet to agree to the other proposed debates.
In May, Biden and Trump had initially agreed to a debate on CNN and ABC, but Trump withdrew from the ABC debate due to a perceived conflict of interest related to a defamation lawsuit he had filed against ABC and its news host, George Stephanopoulos, on March 19.
The CNN debate with Biden on June 27 did not go well for Biden, and under pressure from fellow Democrats, he later withdrew from the race, nominating Harris as his replacement.
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The initial rules for the televised debates were based on a minimum of 15 percent support in two qualifying national polls as stipulated by CNN.
Candidates also had to have their names appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win the general election, a requirement met by both the Republican and Democrat parties.
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. initially did not meet the requirement to appear on CNN but has since stated that he has ballot access in over 40 states. It remains unknown if he will participate in the ABC debate.
The electoral college is a unique voting system in the United States, where each state has a number of electors based on its representation in congress. Voters’ ballots are for these electors, and the presidential candidate with over 270 electors wins the election.
Harris’s official nomination comes just in time for the Democratic National Convention scheduled for Aug. 19–22 in Chicago.
Every four years, the two major U.S. political parties hold conventions leading up to the presidential elections to officially nominate their candidates for president and vice president.
The Republican National Convention took place on July 15–18.
Presidential debates are customary in the United States, with nominees discussing their positions on various current issues. Usually, several are held late in the campaign leading up to the election. The June debate between Biden and Trump this year was at an uncommon time.
Jacob Burg contributed to this report.
