Donald Trump on Saturday rejected a second debate against Kamala Harris before the November 5 election, saying it was “too late” because early voting was already underway in some states.
Harris’ campaign team had previously announced that she had accepted an invite from CNN to participate in a debate on October 23. It would have been the second debate between the 2 candidates, following the September 10 clash, by which she emerged because the winner, in keeping with most experts.
“The American people deserve another opportunity to watch the debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump before they cast their vote,” her campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a press release.
“I hope (Trump) will join me,” Harris posted on X.
Trump said during a campaign rally within the swing state of North Carolina that he would love to participate in a debate and called it “entertaining.” However, the introduction of early voting in some states has put paid to this concept.
“It’s just too late, the voting has already started,” he said.
Speaking to a big and enthusiastic crowd of his supporters, he added that while CNN had been “very fair” in his debate with President Joe Biden in June, “it will not be fair again.”
Vice President Harris replaced her boss at the highest of the Democratic ticket after 81-year-old Biden’s disastrous performance against Trump.
After dropping out of the race, 78-year-old Trump, now the oldest presidential candidate ever, will face a much younger Harris, 59.
Voting in progress
Saturday’s announcement got here as early voting had already begun in some states in an agonizingly close race.
The final result is predicted to rely on seven swing states, including North Carolina.
Behind bulletproof glass, Trump addressed the group within the port city of Wilmington after what gave the impression to be a second assassination attempt on him.
Last Sunday, a gunman was spotted on his golf course in Florida and security forces thwarted any plan to harm the previous president.
In July, Trump was hit within the ear by a bullet at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after a gunman opened fire from a close-by rooftop. The US Secret Service – which is tasked with protecting the candidate – on Friday acknowledged “shortcomings” and “negligence” within the shocking security breach.
Anti-immigration rhetoric
Trump won North Carolina against Biden within the 2020 election.
But Harris desires to win the southeast of the state for the Democrats because she enjoys strong support amongst African-Americans and young voters.
Trump’s speech on Saturday reinforced the tough anti-immigrant rhetoric that has turn out to be a centerpiece of his campaign, as he falsely claimed that migrants were “attacking towns and cities across the Midwest.”
He also promised the group that the United States would “reach Mars before the end of my term.”
The former president faced a brand new challenge in North Carolina after a sensational report on Thursday revealed that Mark Robinson, the Republican gubernatorial candidate backed by Trump, called himself a “black Nazi” and made other inflammatory remarks on a porn website’s message board greater than a decade ago.
Robinson denounced the CNN report as “salacious tabloid lies.”
The presidential race stays neck and neck and each vote will count on this election. Trump has once more refused to simply accept the result if he loses.
Trump faces criminal charges for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 results, which led his supporters to violently storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
