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Trump says he will debate Harris but leaves a door open just in case: "I can also argue in favor of not doing it"

The former president's campaign had already advanced that he would not agree to a head-to-head before the Democratic National Convention, when the vice president is expected to get the backing of enough delegates to secure the party's nomination. 

Donald TrumpAFP

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Donald Trump gave mixed signals when asked about the possibility of debating Kamala Harris. The former president spoke with Laura Ingraham for Fox News and addressed the November presidential election, which for now has him awaiting a rival among Democrats. While the vice president is expected to get the necessary delegates, we still have to wait for the Democratic National Convention;

The Republican debated with Joe Biden last June 27 in Atlanta, Georgia. The event was organized by CNN and ended up being the beginning of the end for the president's reelection attempt, who declined his candidacy a few days later. The president took advantage of the announcement to officially endorse Harris, who has already expressed his desire to debate the former president;

Trump spoke about this possibility during the interview with Ingraham, to whom he assured the following: "The answer is yes, I’ll probably end up debating". However, he added that he can also "make a case for not doing it". 

The Republican had agreed with Biden to hold a second debate on Sept. 10, hosted by ABC News. However, he was not very comfortable with this medium. "Besides, I don't like rewarding fake news...They're going to make tens of millions of dollars off this debate. I don't like ABC," he added. 

On the other side, allies of Harris argued that Trump is actually "afraid" to debate her. "It's not just because she's a skilled debater and a prosecutor who knows how to make her case. He's afraid to debate her because she can't defend her record. He's afraid to debate her because she knows the truth about his failure as president," said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is among the finalists to be Harris' running mate.

Voters trust Trump to handle the economy, crime, immigration

That's the finding of a poll conducted by The Wall Street Journal, conducted July 23-25 among 1,000 registered voters. The poll asked the aforementioned sample about which of the two candidates is "more capable" of handling a range of issues: immigration, abortion, crime, the economy and international relations.

Trump was favored on four of these five issues, while Harris was favored only for handling abortion.

For example, 52% said they preferred the Republican to handle the economy, while 40% opted for the Democrat. Similar was the case with immigration, where 53 % of respondents opted for Trump and again 40 % for Harris.

In turn, despite the former senator's past as a prosecutor, voters see Trump as more capable of handling crime. In this area, 48 % chose the Republican, while 43 % for Harris. The same is the case in international relations, given that 49 % prefer Trump and 45 % the current vice president.

Harris is strong on abortion, where she pulls a considerable gap over the former president, who boasts of having nominated the three judges who overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

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