Dem
51
GOP
49
There has been a fair bit of moving and counter-moving when it comes to the second presidential debate, currently slated to be the only Kamala Harris-Donald Trump matchup. However, it looks like the game is over, and Trump has been checkmated.
Over the weekend, the folks at ABC made clear that they were still all-in on hosting the debate, telling CNN that it was "full steam ahead," and that David Muir and Linsey Davis would definitely be the moderators. Yesterday, Harris' campaign announced that she will be there, with a spokesperson explaining that "As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September's ABC debate."
This doubly puts Trump into a corner. First, if he was willing to debate an older white guy, but he's not willing to debate a younger woman of color, it makes him look weak. Second, if ABC is present for the event, and Harris is present for the event, and Trump is not present, then it turns into a town hall and a free 90-minute commercial for Harris '24. If Biden was still the candidate, people might take a pass, because they already know about him. But with Harris still a cipher for many voters, viewership would likely be substantial.
Trump knows the score, and when he was asked yesterday about participating in the debate, he moved away from his response of the last week ("I don't know"), replacing that with saying he will "probably" debate, though he "can also make a case for not doing it." He really doesn't want to go up against a former prosecutor. And he really, really doesn't want to see a bunch of articles about how he "lost" to a woman of color, which is a real possibility if the debate goes forward. However, he's also aware of the downsides of not showing up. And he almost always makes the choice that allows him to be active (participating in the debate) as opposed to passive (sitting at home).
And so, mark your calendars (again) for September 10. Will there be a second presidential debate? Or a vice-presidential debate? Those remain open questions, although both Fox and NBC have reportedly offered to host the former, while CBS was already committed to hosting the latter. (Z)