Analysis by Brian Stelter, CNN

 3 minute read 

Published 3:11 PM EDT, Sat September 21, 2024

Former President Donald Trump on stage with Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. J.D. Vance, during a campaign rally on July 20, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesNew YorkCNN — 

Does Donald Trump really want his running mate, JD Vance, to have the final debating word this fall? Or does Trump want that opportunity for himself?

That’s one of the questions now on the table after Vice President Kamala Harris challenged Trump on Saturday to a second debate hosted by CNN next month.

The only remaining agreed-to debate of this presidential election season is the October 1 face-off between the vice presidential nominees, Vance and Tim Walz.

CBS is hosting the VP debate and allowing other networks to simulcast the matchup, just as CNN did in June and ABC did earlier this month. The contrasts between Walz, 60, and Vance, 40, are sure to be fascinating.

But historically the VP debate has never been the last in an election cycle, with the running mates usually sandwiched in between debates between the candidates at the top of the ticket.

Of course, this year’s election cycle has been unusual for many reasons, including the earliest general election debate between President Joe Biden and Trump, and the late ascension of Harris as the nominee.

But it sure would seem anticlimactic to have Walz and Vance helm the last debate of the cycle.

Multiple television networks have jockeyed to hold additional presidential debates this fall. The Harris campaign signaled that it would be interested, but only after the VP debate.

CNN has offered to host Harris and Trump on October 23 in Atlanta, the site of the Biden-Trump matchup in June. (Trump has said he won that debate, and Biden withdrew from the race three weeks later, so a return to the Atlanta studio might be enticing for him.)

On Saturday afternoon, Harris publicly agreed to participate on October 23, and encouraged Trump to join her.

Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement that “Trump should have no problem agreeing” since “it is the same format and setup as the CNN debate he attended and said he won in June, when he praised CNN’s moderators, rules, and ratings.”

NBC, the biggest broadcast network that has yet to hold a debate this year, has also been keen to host Harris and Trump. Harris aides may have calculated that Trump would be more likely to agree to CNN’s event.

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But the Trump campaign quickly responded Saturday by reiterating the Republican’s declaration that there would not be another debate, pointing to his social media post last week that read, “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”

At a rally Saturday afternoon, Trump claimed October 23 is “just too late” because “voting has already started.”

But as political scientist Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, observed on X, people who vote weeks early are mainly “voters who were probably unmovable.” A debate closer to Election Day “could sway the small % of undecideds plus motivate (or de-motivate) many on both sides.”

The final presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle was held on October 22.

Still, Trump cares deeply about television ratings, so one has to wonder if he will really pass up a chance to reach 60 million to 80 million viewers one more time before Election Day.

The first two presidential debates this year were indisputably valuable to the tens of millions of voters who tuned in.

Americans would benefit from another debate, CNN said in a statement on Saturday, because the public would “hear more from these candidates as they make their final decision.”

Donald Trump says ‘too late’ to hold another debate as early voting has started ahead of November 5 election.

By Al Jazeera Staff

Published On 21 Sep 202421 Sep 2024

Kamala Harris has challenged Donald Trump to a second debate before the United States presidential election, saying she “will gladly accept” to go head-to-head again against the former president.

In a statement on Saturday, Harris’s campaign spokesperson Jen O’Malley said the US vice president had accepted CNN’s invitation to a debate on October 23.

“We look forward to Vice President Harris again having the opportunity in the CNN debate to show her command of the issues and why it’s time to turn the page on Donald Trump and charge a new way forward for America,” O’Malley said.

More than 67 million people tuned in to the first Harris-Trump showdown on September 10, which saw the two candidates trade barbs on immigration, foreign policy, and other issues.

Most observers crowned Harris the winner of that debate, as she repeatedly appeared to rattle Trump over the course of the evening.

Trump echoed that at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Saturday, saying it was “too late” to hold another showdown with Harris.

“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late, voting has already started,” he said, as reported by US news outlets.

While election day is November 5, early voting began this week in some US states.

In 2020, the final presidential debate ahead of the election was on October 22. Four years earlier, when Trump went up against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the third and final presidential debate was on October 19.

CNN has said the proposed October 23 debate would mirror the format of one held in June between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.

Biden’s poor performance in that debate spurred questions about his age and ability to serve another term, and weeks later, he dropped out of the 2024 race.

“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,” CNN said in a statement.

“We look forward to receiving a response from both campaigns so the American public can hear more from these candidates as they make their final decision.”

Close race

Most polls show Trump and Harris locked in a close fight in the run-up to the upcoming vote, particularly in battleground states that will be key to winning the White House.

According to a New York Times polling tracker, Harris on Saturday held a slim lead of 49 percent support nationally compared with Trump’s 47 percent support.

It is not clear whether debates actually have an effect on presidential campaigns, with most experts saying the impact is minimal.

By Reuters

September 21, 202411:53 PM GMT+6Updated 2 hours ago

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WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in another debate against Donald Trump on Oct. 23 and urges her Republican rival to face her less than two weeks ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, the Democratic candidate’s campaign said on Saturday.

“Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share a stage with Donald Trump, and she has accepted CNN’s invitation to a debate on October 23. Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, the chair of the Harris campaign, said in a statement.

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Asked about Harris’ acceptance of the CNN invitation, a Trump spokesperson referred to the Republican former president’s prior statements that there would be no more debates.

Harris and Trump debated each other for the first time on Sept. 10, in a contest that polls showed was won by the Democratic nominee.

Trump last week said he would not participate in another debate against Harris before the election.

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“THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” the former president wrote on his social media site Truth Social last Thursday.

Trump debated President Joe Biden in June before his matchup against Harris.

Biden’s shaky performance in that debate rattled Democrats and prompted strategists to ask whether their party should take the unprecedented step of replacing the 81-year old president as their candidate. Biden withdrew from the race for the White House in July.Wanted Roe v Wade to be overturned.00:0301:22

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Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Paul Simao