Washington — Kamala Harris’ campaign wasted little time after the first debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump on Tuesday before calling for another matchup, although Trump indicated he’s not enthusiastic about another rematch.
“Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face this fall at the ballot box: between moving forward with Kamala Harris, or going backwards with Trump,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement on Tuesday night. “That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see at a second debate in October. Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”
In an appearance on “Fox and Friends” on Wednesday morning, Trump claimed the debate, hosted by ABC News, was “rigged” against him.
He defended his performance against Harris Tuesday night and said that he’d be “less inclined to” debate her a second time “because we had a great night.”
“They lost very badly, the first thing they did is ask for a debate,” Trump said. “They always ask for a rematch.”
But whether the two campaigns agree to another debate is still an open question. The former president said after the debate Tuesday night that he would “think about it.”
Tuesday night’s debate followed weeks of back and forth over whether the matchup would occur at all. President Biden and the former president had agreed in May to participate in two presidential debates, one hosted by CNN in June and another hosted by ABC in September. But the second debate was thrown into question once Mr. Biden left the race.
Before Tuesday night, Trump had suggested on multiple occasions that he would not participate in the debate, criticizing ABC while proposing additional debates on Fox and NBC News. Heading into the debate, Harris had only agreed to the ABC News matchup.