Despite previously rejecting doing more than one debate against former US president Donald Trump, current US Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has swiftly called for another presidential debate against Trump, just moments after Tuesday night’s event in Philadelphia ended.
The debate hosted by ABC was the first between Harris and Trump.
“Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face this fall at the ballot box: between moving forward with Kamala Harris or going backwards with Trump. That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see at a second debate in October,” Harris campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.
She added, “Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”
Trump debated former President Biden in the now-infamous June 27 clash, during which the president performed so poorly that Democrats called for him to drop out and he ultimately exited the race.
The Harris campaign projected confidence and declared Harris the winner of the debate in its first statement afterwards. O’Malley Dillon said that Harris “commanded the stage on every single issue” and called Trump “totally incoherent.”
Ahead of the debate, Trump repeatedly criticised ABC News, raising questions about whether he would participate in it. The Harris campaign pushed back on the decision to mute the microphones while another candidate was speaking but ultimately agreed to the rule, so the debate happened.