Former President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will not engage in another debate with Vice President Kamala Harris before the November 5 election, rejecting her call for a rematch as a sign of desperation. Trump’s comments came after their recent debate, which Harris has sought to revisit.
Taking to his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump claimed Harris’s request for a second debate suggested that she had lost their previous face-off and was now looking for redemption. “Polls clearly show that I won the debate against Comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ Radical Left Candidate,” Trump stated, adding there would be “no third debate,” referring to his earlier debates with President Joe Biden and Harris.
However, while Trump pointed to unnamed polls in his favor, mainstream surveys suggest a different narrative. A CNN poll revealed that 63% of viewers felt Harris performed better in the debate, compared to 37% backing Trump. Likewise, a YouGov poll showed 43% believed Harris had the upper hand, with 28% supporting Trump and 30% undecided.
The Harris campaign, riding on post-debate enthusiasm, reported a record fundraising haul of USD 47 million within 24 hours, marking the highest single-day figure since her campaign launch. Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, is set to face off with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz in an upcoming debate scheduled for October 1 in New York.
