Donald Trump refuses second televised debate with Kamala Harris

Former US President Donald Trump has said he will not participate in a second televised debate before the November presidential election.

While Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris accepted an invitation to CNN’s debate on October 23, Republican nominee Trump told a rally that it was “too late” because voting had already started.

Harris’ campaign said that since the former president claimed to have won their previous debate in Philadelphia earlier this month, he should accept.

Snapshot polls taken after the game suggested that a majority of viewers thought the vice president had outperformed her opponent.

After the September 10 debate, Trump said there would be no more debate.

Speaking at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday, he claimed victory in that previous face-off and said “it’s just too late” for another one.

“The voting has already started,” he said, accusing Harris of seeking a new round of confrontations “because she is losing badly.”

In a statement released Saturday, Harris-Walz campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said Americans “deserve another opportunity” to see Harris and Trump debate before the November election.

“It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to be only one election debate,” she said. “Debates provide a unique opportunity for voters to see the candidates side by side and take stock of their competing visions for America.”

On X, formerly Twitter, Harris said she “gladly” accepted the debate invitation and hoped Trump would participate as well.

CNN had said the potential debate would follow the same format as the one aired in June between Trump and President Joe Biden.

Biden’s faltering performance in that meeting led some Democrats to question whether he should be the party’s nominee for the election.

After weeks of uncertainty, the president announced he would not seek reelection, paving the way for Harris to become the nominee.

At the Trump rally, some voters told the BBC they hoped another debate would take place.

“If you’re not afraid, why not? They both did a good job (in the last debate),” said Trump supporter Steve Castellano.

Adding that he thought the moderators were “a little biased” in the last debate, Mr. Castellano suggested some conditions for a possible rematch.

“They should debate again on a channel that Trump chooses,” he said. “What I would really like is a good podcaster (to moderate). I would really like Joe Rogan to do it.”

Harris holds a slight lead over Trump in national polls, and North Carolina could be crucial to her hopes of returning to the White House.

Since then, the majority of national polls suggest Harris has made slight gains with voters.

Trump’s campaign stop in North Carolina comes after the Republican candidate he supported for governor, Mark Robinson, allegedly made controversial comments on a pornographic website more than a decade ago.

Robinson called CNN’s report that he had identified himself as a “black Nazi” on an adult forum “salacious tabloid lies.”

Robinson did not attend Saturday’s rally, and Trump did not mention him during his 60 Minutes speech to supporters.

The two candidates traded jabs and barbs during the previous debate, with Trump calling Harris a “radical left-wing liberal” and a Marxist who was destroying America.

Harris, for her part, has provoked Trump, downplayed the size of crowds at her rallies and cited her Republican critics.

CBS, the BBC’s news partner in the United States, has also invited the two presidential candidates to participate in a debate in Arizona in October.