Kamala Harris has agreed to a second debate with former President Donald Trump, set to be hosted by CNN on October 23.

The announcement came shortly after CNN’s Caitlin Collins reported that Harris had accepted the invitation, which Harris later confirmed in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating she was “gladly” accepting the opportunity.

I will gladly accept a second presidential debate on October 23.

I hope @realDonaldTrump will join me. https://t.co/Trb8HUBsDh

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 21, 2024

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However, Trump has expressed little interest in participating in another debate with Harris.

The former president stated that he believes the first debate, hosted by ABC News earlier this month, was enough to demonstrate his stance and leadership to the American public.

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In a Truth Social post following the ABC debate, Trump wrote, “Polls clearly show that I won the debate against Comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ Radical Left Candidate.”

He added that there is no need for a second debate, quipping that when a fighter loses a match, “the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH.’”

Trump’s reluctance to engage in a second debate with Harris stems from several factors, including his dissatisfaction with Harris’ decision to skip a previously scheduled debate hosted by Fox News on September 10.

While Trump’s campaign agreed to face off with Harris on a left-leaning network, Harris declined, a move that Trump highlighted in his decision not to proceed with another debate.

He pointed to the fact that his campaign showed a willingness to debate on an anti-Trump network, while Harris avoided the opportunity to face him on a conservative platform.

“When Kamala Harris declined the Fox News debate, that showed she wasn’t ready to face me head-on,” Trump said during a recent rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. “Now she wants a second debate because she’s losing, but it’s too late. Voting has already begun, and another debate at this point just doesn’t make sense.”

The former president emphasized that voting had already started in many parts of the country, and holding a debate so close to Election Day would not serve much purpose.

He also questioned the fairness of CNN, noting that although the network was relatively fair during their first debate, it faced backlash from the radical left for not being harsher on him.

Trump expressed doubt that CNN would maintain that level of fairness in a second debate, adding, “There is no upside to doing another debate with her.”

Trump further elaborated on his stance during his rally, stating, “I’ve already done two [debates]—one with Crooked Joe Biden at CNN and the other with Kamala on ABC. CNN was very fair, I thought, Joe was driven out of the race. It was a coup, by the way, but he was driven out of the race. And they’ve been widely criticized by the radical left lunatics for all of the fairness. They were very fair; in other words, they won’t be fair again because they took a lot of abuse from the radical left.”

JUST IN: Donald Trump says he will *not* be doing another debate in October on CNN, says Kamala Harris is “losing badly.”

“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late voting has already started.”

“She’s had her chance to do it with Fox… but now she wants to do… pic.twitter.com/LeNTo38wVA

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 21, 2024

Despite Harris’ campaign push for another debate, it appears increasingly unlikely that Trump will agree to the October 23 showdown.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung referred CNN to the former president’s Truth Social post, where he firmly stated, “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” signaling that Trump sees no benefit in facing Harris on stage again.

While Harris has agreed to the debate and framed it as an opportunity for the American people to see the candidates before casting their votes, Trump’s refusal stems from a combination of timing, fairness concerns, and his belief that another debate would not sway the outcome of the election.

As he stated, “Kamala and her group have seen what is happening to their campaign, and it’s not going well for them. Now she wants to debate again, but she’s had her chance.”

The ABC News-hosted debate earlier this month will likely go down as the sole face-off between the two candidates before Election Day.

Trump’s firm stance on rejecting future debates, coupled with Harris’ missed opportunity to engage with him in September, has left the possibility of further debates off the table.

As Election Day approaches, both campaigns will now focus on reaching voters through other means, with Trump’s rallies and Harris’ campaign events continuing to shape the race.

The October 23 debate, if it proceeds without Trump, may serve as a platform for Harris to address key issues, but without the former president present, the debate’s impact could be diminished.

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