Vice President Kamala Harris accepted a CNN invitation to have a debate with former President Donald Trump on 23 October, less than two weeks before the election, when early voting has already kicked off in three states.
She announced on Saturday that she “will gladly accept a second presidential debate” and that she hopes Trump “will join” her on 23 October.
“The American people deserve another opportunity to see Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate before they cast their ballots. (…) Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share a stage with Donald Trump,” her campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate.”
On Saturday, at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he promised women a better future under his presidency, Trump, for his part, only repeated his previous remarks that a third debate was not necessary: “The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late. Voting is already started.”
However, Trump suggested last week that he might be open to a third presidential debate after his September 10 confrontation with Harris, hosted by ABC in Philadelphia. “Maybe if I got in the right mood,” he told reporters during a stop in California, after previously posting on Truth Social: “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”
If the October debate does take place, it would reflect the first 2024 presidential debate in June between Trump and President Joe Biden. Trump and Harris will take questions from moderators for 90 minutes without a live audience in the studio.
Trump and Biden’s debate on CNN on 27 June turned out to be a crucial confrontation, shortly after which Biden eventually dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris for the Democratic nomination.
Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump received an invitation to participate in a CNN debate this fall as we believe the American people would benefit from a second debate between the two candidates for President of the United States, the network said in a statement.
Early voting begins in three states
The first in-person early voting has begun in Minnesota, Virginia and South Dakota, six weeks before the 2024 US presidential election on 5 November. Most states offer in-person early voting, but Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire do not offer this option. Most states offer early voting by mail. Other states offering in-person early voting in the coming weeks include Illinois (26 September), Montana and Nebraska (7 October), Indiana and Wyoming (8 October), Arizona (9 October), Georgia (15 October) and Iowa (16 October).
The type of voting marks a six-week period before the main voting phase, which begins on 5 October. Registered voters can cast their ballots at certified polling stations across the country to avoid large crowds on election day or to schedule a more convenient time to vote that better fits their schedule.
Both parties hail this election as the most important in generations, with political experts suggesting that early voting might play a crucial role in determining who becomes the next president of the United States.
