“It’s too late”: Trump shares reason for skipping second debate with Harris

Donald Trump shared his reasoning for skipping a second debate on CNN

Published September 22, 2024 10:18AM (EDT)

Former U.S. President and current Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks about the economy, inflation, and manufacturing during a campaign event at Alro Steel on August 29, 2024 in Potterville, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Former U.S. President and current Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks about the economy, inflation, and manufacturing during a campaign event at Alro Steel on August 29, 2024 in Potterville, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Donald Trump has been ducking a second debate with Kamala Harris since the smoke cleared on the first. 

Speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Saturday, Trump finally shared a reason for his constant shrugging off of a second head-to-head matchup. 

"The problem with another debate is it's just too late," Trump told the crowd, pointing out that early voting has already begun in some states. "Voting has already started. She’s had her chance to do it with Fox [News]. You know Fox invited us on and I waited and waited. They turned it down."

Harris has accepted a second debate on CNN, if Trump would be open to it. At the rally, Trump repeated his talking point that only a loser asks for a rematch.

"She wants to do a debate right before the election with CNN because she’s losing badly," he said, before noting that Harris has never won a primary election. "I won all of the primaries, remember. She won none. She got no votes." 

Trump then stacked up Harris' electoral and debate record against his own, trotting out the moldy idea that having to face Harris after planning for a rematch against Biden is unfair to him.

"Biden, I’m no fan but in all fairness to him he got 14 million votes, she got none," he said. "She’s done one debate. I’ve done two."


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