Kamala Harris agrees to debate Trump amidst shifting poll numbers
Vice President of the USA, Kamala Harris, announced that she is ready for a televised debate with Donald Trump. She criticized him for trying to back out of previous agreements regarding such a debate on ABC News on September 10th.
26 July 2024 07:42
The September 10th debate was supposed to be the second showdown between Trump and President Joe Biden, who announced on Sunday that he would not seek re-election.
During a teleconference on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that he will participate in the debate with the Vice President and is willing to participate in more than one such duel. He assessed that Kamala Harris would be easier to defeat than Biden.
Trump is, however, demanding that the debate be moved from ABC News to the Republican-supporting Fox News.
"I’m ready to debate Donald Trump…it appears he’s backpedaling, but I’m ready. I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage and so I’m ready. Let’s go," Harris said during a brief meeting with reporters.
Harris and leadership "on global issues"
Also on Thursday, Harris's candidacy was endorsed by Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who stated that the Vice President "would maintain U.S. international leadership."
Yellen said Harris "deeply understands" the issues America faces in the world and knows "why it is important to restore U.S. leadership on the global stage and she's been a critical part of that effort."
Changes in pre-election polls
According to a new CNN poll conducted by the American research firm SSRS, Trump currently has 49 percent of voter support. Forty-six percent of respondents declared they would vote for Kamala Harris.
CNN emphasizes that this is a more evenly matched race than the previous poll showed in the Biden-Trump bout.