Vice President Kamala Harris challenged Donald Trump to “reconsider” meeting her on the debate stage after his camp announced last week that he will not be finalizing details until the Democrats officially pick a nominee. The move effectively canceled the ABC News debate set for September that was originally scheduled when President Joe Biden was still his election opponent.
“The momentum in this campaign is shifting, and there are signs that Donald Trump is feeling it,” Harris told a crowd of supporters at an Atlanta rally on Tuesday.
“You may have noticed so last week, [when] he pulled out of the debate in September he had previously agreed to. So he won’t debate, but he and his running mate sure seem to have a lot to say about me,” she said, referencing comments made by Trump and J.D. Vance — such as saying she “doesn’t like Jewish people,” despite the fact that she’s married to Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish.
At that point, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate turned to face the camera directly, saying, “Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage, because, as the saying goes, if you got something to say…”
The audience then finished the sentence for her: “…say it to my face!” You can watch the moment in the video clip, below.
Trump’s campaign said on Thursday that it would be “inappropriate to schedule” any upcoming debates until the Democratic Party officially picks a nominee, despite already agreeing to a second presidential debate scheduled for Sept. 10.
His communications director Steven Cheung wrote, “Democrats very well could still change their minds,” about their nominee.
Harris also took the public speaking opportunity to repeat that her political opponents are “just plain weird.” That message that was also featured in Monday’s Won’t PAC Down video, which depicted MAGA men as creepy “Project 2025 weirdos” who want to police women’s sex lives.
Biden officially dropped out of the 2024 presidential election on July 21, endorsing Harris in the process. Since then, she has been endorsed by Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama and has raised more than $200 million for her campaign.
The disastrous first debate that shook Democrats’ faith in Biden’s chances of re-election was held on June 27 on CNN. The second debate was scheduled for Sept. 10 with ABC News.
