WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks on the phone with reporters Tuesday ahead of his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
“I would like to participate in more than one debate,” Trump said.
Harris, who claims to be the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, won promises from enough Democratic delegates by delayed Monday evening to clinch the nomination. President Joe Biden on Sunday dropped his re-election bid and endorsed Harris.
During the call, Trump also said he was not afraid to campaign against Harris because “her policies are the same as Biden’s.”
Later in the conversation, Trump criticized Harris for the Biden administration’s handling of immigration, an issue that has become a key part of his platform in his third run for the White House.
Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment on Trump’s remarks about the debate.
Trump also said he was unsure whether he wanted to participate in an ABC News debate scheduled for Sept. 10 with presumptive Democratic nominee Biden.
Biden’s volatile performance in a June 27 debate with Trump led to weeks of growing dissatisfaction among Democrats with his campaign, with members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate calling on the president to drop his reelection bid.
Trump also noted that he declined the ABC debate because he “agreed to debate Joe Biden” and not Harris.
Harris held her first campaign rally in Milwaukee on Tuesday, where she returned to her previous job as prosecutor and attorney general of California.
