Trump questions whether he will attend ABC News debate because of the ties between the network and Kamala Harris
The Republican nominee pointed out that the close bond between his opponent and the co-chairwoman of the media giant will be decisive and proposes that the debate be moved to another station.
Donald Trump is wavering on whether he will attend the presidential debate against Kamala Harris to be held Sept. 10 on ABC News. The Republican nominee made it clear that the partisanship of the media outlet and the more than well-known friendship between his opponent and the co-chairwoman of Disney Entertainment (the network's parent company), Dana Walden, would hurt him.
Trump referenced the interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to make clear that ABC News is biased towards the Democratic Party and its candidate, which is why he is considering the possibility of not appearing at the debate.
"I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl’s(K?) ridiculous and biased interview of Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network? Will panelist Donna Brazil give the questions to the Marxist Candidate like she did for Crooked Hillary Clinton? Will Kamala’s best friend, who heads up ABC, do likewise. Where is Liddle’ George Slopadopolus hanging out now? Will he be involved. They’ve got a lot of questions to answer!!! Why did Harris turn down Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN? Stay tuned!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Separately, the Republican nominee said the "hostility" he saw in the Cotton interview led him to decide to propose that the next debate be held on another network. "I'd much rather do it on NBC. I'd much rather do it on CBS. Frankly, I think CBS is very unfair, but the best of the group, and certainly I do it on Fox, I'd even do it on CNN. I thought CNN treated us very fairly the last time," he added in remarks reported by NBC News.
Another point that has Trump questioning whether he will debate Harris on ABC News is "hot" microphones. The Democrat's team prefers that the microphones be kept on at all times so that all comments can be captured, something the Republican campaign does not want, as agreed.
"We said no changes to the agreed upon rules. If Kamala Harris isn’t smart enough to repeat the messaging points her handlers want her to memorize, that’s their problem. This seems to be a pattern for the Harris campaign. They won’t allow Harris to do interviews, they won’t allow her to do press conferences, and now they want to give her a cheat-sheet for the debate," said Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman.