PALM BEACH, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump proposed three September debates against Kamala Harris Thursday as he sought to wrest back some of the attention lavished on his rival since her blockbuster entry into the US presidential election.
“I hope she agrees,” Trump told journalists, after he said he had arranged debates with television networks on 4, 10 and 25 September.
Harris responded Thursday that she would “look forward” to facing off on ABC News on 10 September, a previously scheduled debate that the two campaigns had sparred over after Trump temporarily backed out.
There was no immediate word from the Harris camp about the other proposed dates, the first with Trump-friendly Fox News and the final with NBC News.
Despite her intensive campaign schedule, Harris has taken almost no questions from reporters since entering the race and Trump had been seeking to turn her lack of media exposure into an election issue even before Thursday’s news conference.
“She hasn’t done an interview — she can’t do an interview, she’s barely competent... But I look forward to the debates, because I think we have to set the record straight,” he said in Florida.
Harris said later Thursday: “I’ve talked to my team. I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.”
Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a leading election forecaster, shifted three of its ratings in favor of Democrats on Wednesday, moving Minnesota and New Hampshire from “leans Democratic” to “likely Democratic” and Georgia from “leans Republican” to “toss-up.”
Meanwhile, Marquette University Law School released a nationwide survey showing that, among likely voters, Harris now leads Trump by six points — 53 percent to 47 percent.