Former President Donald Trump has firmly closed the possibility of engaging in a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris before the upcoming Election Day.
In a comprehensive post on Truth Social, the Republican nominee confidently stated, "I won the last two debates." This statement comes on the heels of a last-minute effort by Fox News to orchestrate another debate.
Trump, who is 78 years old, highlighted his participation in two previous debates. The first was against President Biden on June 27, hosted by CNN, and the second was against Harris on September 10, facilitated by ABC. He also mentioned his acceptance of an invitation to a debate scheduled for September 4, which was supposed to be hosted by Fox News, but was declined by Harris.
The former president also took a moment to commend JD Vance for his victory in a debate against Tim Walz, whom Trump humorously referred to as "tampon Tim Walz, who called himself a knucklehead!" He went on to assert his leading position in the polls, stating, "I am also leading in the polls, with the lead getting bigger by the day and leading in all swing states."
According to The New York Post, Trump likened the situation to a boxing match, stating, "The first thing a prizefighter does when he loses a fight is say that he 'demands a rematch.'" He then pointed out the advanced stage of the election process, noting that voting has already commenced. He concluded, "It is very late in the process, voting has already begun there will be no rematch!" This announcement effectively quashed the aspirations of several networks hoping to host a final debate.
Earlier that Wednesday, Fox News had proposed October 24 and October 27 as potential dates for a final debate before Election Day. Jay Wallace, the company's president, had written a letter inviting both campaigns to consider the proposed dates. The network's plan included having political anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum moderate the forum, with rules similar to those of the CNN and ABC debates.
On the previous day, CNN had announced a noon Thursday deadline for Trump to accept an invitation to an October 23 debate in Atlanta, an invitation that Harris had already accepted. The network had extended the invitations on September 21, stating, "We believe the American people would benefit from a second debate between the two candidates for President of the United States."
In his post, Trump argued that Harris' response to a question on "The View" rendered the need for another debate irrelevant. He wrote, "Kamala stated clearly, yesterday, that she would not do anything different than Joe Biden, so there is nothing to debate." The 45th president concluded his post by thanking his audience for their attention to the matter, signing off as "Donald J. Trump."
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