Donald Trump has been mocked after he announced that he has accepted a Fox News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
A number of Trump critics have accused the former president of being "terrified" to debate Harris in a neutral setting, and will only face off against the 2024 Democratic candidate under rules determined by the conservative news network and in front of a crowd of his supporters.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he has agreed to take part in a September 4 debate, moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, held in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
Trump said the rules of the September 4 debate will be similar to the ones at the June 27 CNN debate between him and President Joe Biden, which featured muted microphones, but this time will feature a "full arena audience."
It is not known if Harris has accepted the terms of the Fox News debate. The Democrat was previously prepared to face off against Trump at the pre-arranged ABC News debate on September 10, which had been scheduled before Biden ended his reelection campaign.
Michael Tyler, Harris' campaign communications director, later accused Trump of "running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out."
In response to Trump's announcement, the X, formerly Twitter, account for the liberal media network Meidas Touch posted: "Donald Trump has again said he is BACKING OUT of the scheduled ABC debate.
"He says he will only debate on his safe space on Fox News with a packed arena and moderators of his choosing. He is absolutely terrified of Kamala Harris."
Columnist Laura Bassett said Harris is still going to "show up to the ABC debate he's backing out of and get the photo op with the empty podium. He's an idiot.
"Saying he's confident enough to debate Biden on ABC but only confident enough to debate Kamala on Fox, in a big full MAGA arena set up to be as close as possible to one of his own rallies, is humiliating, and should be treated as such."
While referencing the Olympic gold medalist swimmer and mocking Trump's tendency to occasionally post in all caps, former Barack Obama speechwriter David Litt said: "I HAVE AGREED TO A SWIM MEET WITH KATIE LEDECKY SO LONG AS SHE WEARS A FULL SUIT OF ARMOR AND HOLDS HER BREATH THE WHOLE TIME ALSO I GET A JET SKI."
Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott added: "Let's be clear: the ABC News debate is not 'terminated.' It's scheduled, and both candidates already agreed to participate. Donald Trump is backing out, because he's afraid of actually debating Kamala Harris.
"It's not even worth responding to the laughably absurd suggestion that Fox, a propaganda arm of the Republican Party that's actively working to elect Donald Trump, host a presidential debate."
Trump's and Harris' offices have been contacted for comment via email.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: "As everyone knows, the Democrats have Unconstitutionally taken a Candidate, who was acknowledged to be defeated, and unceremoniously replaced him with a new Candidate.
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"This has never been done before, and is a Threat to Democracy, but I am totally prepared to accept the results of this 'coup,' and replace Joe on the Debate stage with Crazy Kamala Harris. I spent Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, Time, and Effort fighting Joe, and when I won the Debate, they threw a new Candidate into the ring. Not fair, but it is what it is!
"Nevertheless, different Candidate or not, their bad Policies are the same, and this will be strongly revealed at the September 4th Debate. I look forward to meeting and debating Kamala Harris on September 4th. This date is convenient and appropriate in that it is just prior to the September 6th start of Early Voting in the 2024 Presidential Election."
Harris' campaign team accused Trump on Friday of being "too scared" to face the vice president in a debate and that the Republican "needs to man up."
08/03/2024 11:09 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Kamala Harris' campaign communications director Michael Tyler.
