NEW YORK — On Monday, Donald Trump seemed to back out of his earlier promise to debate Vice President Kamala Harris. He said that he “probably” would debate but that he “can also make a case for not doing it.”
In an interview with Fox News Channel that ran Monday night, Trump was asked several times if he was going to debate Harris. He finally gave a weaker answer than he had in recent days.
The former Republican president was excited to face Vice President Joe Biden when Biden was the Democratic nominee. For months, he had been saying that Biden wasn’t mentally ready for the debate or the job of president. It looked like Harris would be the Democratic presidential candidate after Biden dropped out of the race. Since then, Trump has been questioning the rules of the debate he agreed to have with Biden in the first place. He said that the debate on September 10 on ABC News should be moved to a different network, calling ABC “fake news.”
During a call with reporters last week, Trump was asked if he would agree to debate Harris at least once. He replied, “Oh yes, definitely.” “I’d want to,” and he said that they had to discuss.
During the interview on Monday, host Laura Ingraham asked Trump over and over again if he would agree to a fight.
“I want to make a case.” I can also say this, though. Everyone knows who I am. Trump said, “And now people know who she is.”
In the end, Trump said, “The answer is yes, I’ll probably end up debating.”
He talked for a minute about how any talks should happen before early voting starts in each state. Then he said, “The answer is yes, but I can also make a case for not doing it.”
Trump has missed debates in the past, like all of the Republican primary talks in 2024. At first, he didn’t take part because he thought it was too early, and then he questioned the location of another talk before making it clear he wouldn’t be taking part in any of them.
In the interview on Monday, the Republican candidate also tried to explain what he meant when he told Christians at a conservative event last week that they “won’t have to vote anymore” if he wins.
His claim is that Christians don’t vote very often, but he told them to vote “just this time” and then they wouldn’t have to do it again.
He said, “It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine in four years.” “You lovely Christians will no longer have to vote,” he said.
Soon after, he said, “You won’t have to vote again for four years.” “It will be fixed so well that you won’t have to vote.”
Democrats and others were alarmed by Trump’s comments because he often uses authoritarian language and said earlier that he would only be a dictator on “day one.” They also pointed out that Trump refused to accept the results of the 2020 election and tried to overturn them.
Trump’s team and supporters gave different reasons for what he said, and Ingraham asked him to explain what he meant.
“They don’t vote, and I’m telling them why.” “You never vote.” Vote this time. I’ll make the country better. You will no longer have to vote. Trump said, “I won’t need your vote.”
Since he will only be in office for four years, did he mean that Christians won’t have to vote for him?
Trump began his answer by talking about how many Christians and gun owners vote, but Ingraham cut him off to ask him again.
“Don’t fret about what will happen.” You need to vote on November 5th. From then on, you don’t have to worry about choosing. It doesn’t matter to me because we’ll fix things. The country will be fixed, and we won’t even need your vote because we’ll love each other so much. “It’s fine if you no longer want to vote,” Trump said.
Last month, Trump said similar things at another event for Christians. He complained about how few Christians vote and urged them to get out and vote.
“Okay, you don’t have to vote for four years.” Don’t vote in four years. He said, “I don’t care.”
