'Too late': Trump rejects Harris's call for second debate, says 'voting has started'

As the race for the White House intensifies, former US President Donald Trump’s campaign has once again rejected the invitation to debate Vice President Kamala Harris. The rejection came after the Democratic presidential nominee accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in another showdown against Trump. The debate is scheduled to take place on October 23, if Trump agrees.

“I will gladly accept a second presidential debate on October 23. I hope @realDonaldTrump will join me,” Harris wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. After accepting the invitation, the Harris campaign pointed towards Trump’s appreciation for the CNN moderators, the first time he debated US President Joe Biden, this year.

“Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate. It is the same format and setup as the CNN debate he attended and said he won in June when he praised CNN’s moderators, rules and ratings,” the Harris campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said in a statement.

Trump’s campaign rejects the invitation

When asked about Harris’s decision to take part in the second debate, the Trump campaign pointed to the former president’s previous remarks where he said that he wouldn’t do a third presidential debate. Trump later spoke at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, and said that Harris only wants a rematch because “she is losing”.

“She’s done one debate, I’ve done two. It’s too late to do another, I’d love to in many ways but it’s too late, the voting is cast, and the voters are out there, immediately – is everybody voting, please? Get out and vote,” Trump said. Trump’s rejection of another debate came days after the first in-person voting began in Minnesota, Virginia and South Dakota. Apart from this, several postal ballots were sent out a few days earlier as well.

It is important to note that Harris and Trump held their first presidential debate in Philadelphia on September 10. The debate was moderated by ABC News. Two days after the debate, Trump made it clear that he wouldn’t be taking part in any other debate against Harris. “When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’”  he wrote on TruthSocial at that time.

Interestingly, multiple rejections from Trump have prompted the Harris campaign to refer to him as “chicken”. Meanwhile, the vice presidential debate between Harris’s running mate Tim Walz and Trump’s VP pick JD Vance is scheduled to take place on October 1.

With inputs from agencies.