Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign Friday accused former President Donald Trump of being "too scared" to face her in a debate and said he should "man up."
"He's got no problem spreading lies and hateful garbage at his rallies or in interviews with right-wing commentators," Harris for President co-Chair Cedric Richmond said Friday, reports The Hill. "But he's apparently too scared to do it standing across the stage from the Vice President of the United States."
And, Richmond added, "Since he talks the talk, he should walk the walk and — as Vice President Harris said earlier this week — say it to her face on September 10. She'll be there waiting to see if he'll show up."
His comments come in response to Trump insisting in an interview that he wants to debate Harris, but he sees little reason to.
"I mean right now I say, 'why should I do a debate?' " he said. "I'm leading in the polls. And, everybody knows her, everybody knows me."
The campaigns for Trump and President Joe Biden had agreed to a Sept. 10 debate, to be hosted by ABC News. However, with Biden out and Harris in, the former president says that he should have leeway to make changes in the debate, including changing its format or dropping ABC as the host.
Harris, meanwhile, has been taunting Trump over his comments about the September debate, telling a rally in Atlanta that if he's going to talk about her, he should "say it to my face."
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee has announced a "digital home page takeover," starting Saturday, that will target Trump over its claims that he is "afraid to debate Harris.
Last week, he told reporters that he would "absolutely" debate Harris, but this week said in an interview that he would "probably" debate her, but may choose not to.
His campaign has declined to commit to a debate, however, until Harris is the official Democratic Party nominee.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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