WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in another debate against Donald Trump on Oct. 23 and is urging her Republican rival to face her less than two weeks before the Nov. 5 presidential election, the Democratic candidate's campaign said on Saturday.
“Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share the stage with Donald Trump, and has accepted CNN's invitation to a debate on October 23. Donald Trump should have no problem accepting this debate,” Harris campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement.
Asked about Harris' acceptance of CNN's invitation, a Trump spokesperson pointed to the former Republican president's previous statements that there would be no more debates.
Harris and Trump first debated each other on September 10, in a race that polls showed the Democratic candidate won.
Trump said last week that he would not participate in another debate against Harris before the election.
“THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” the former president wrote on his social media site Truth Social last Thursday.
Trump debated President Joe Biden in June before his matchup against Harris.
Biden’s shaky performance in that debate rattled Democrats and led strategists to question whether their party should take the unprecedented step of replacing the 81-year-old president as its nominee. Biden dropped out of the White House race in July.
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