Trump Threatens to Boycott Debate with Harris on ABC
Former President Donald Trump criticized ABC News and hinted that he might skip a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on the network.
“I watched ABC Fake News this morning, and it was a ridiculous and biased interview by the low-rated Jonathan Karl with Senator Tom Cotton (a truly great person) along with their anti-Trump crew. I’m wondering why I would even consider debating Kamala Harris on this network,” Trump posted on Truth Social on August 25.
Trump referenced a scandal involving ABC News reporter Donna Brazile, who had provided Hillary Clinton’s campaign with debate questions in advance during the 2016 election season.
“Will Donna Brazile do the same for Harris?” Trump questioned. He also raised concerns about whether ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos would play any role in a potential debate between him and Harris. Trump previously filed a lawsuit against ABC News and Stephanopoulos in March after the journalist made comments on-air regarding Trump’s legal battles with E. Jean Carroll.
A jury did not find Trump guilty of rape under New York state law, but the judge noted that this does not mean Carroll failed to prove that Trump had “raped” her in the commonly understood sense of the word.
Trump has suggested that his lawsuit against ABC News could complicate a potential debate with Harris. In his August 25 post, the former president emphasized that ABC News “has a lot of questions to answer.”
“Why is Harris refusing to debate on Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN? Stay tuned!” Trump wrote.
Previously, Trump had agreed to debate President Joe Biden on ABC News on September 10. However, after Biden withdrew from the race and Harris became the nominee, Trump began to question whether he should participate. Both sides eventually agreed to move forward with the debate on ABC News as scheduled.
Trump has also pushed for additional debates with Harris on Fox News and NBC News in September. However, the Harris campaign has stated that they will only agree to the ABC News debate before considering a second debate.
