new york
CNN
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With former President Donald Trump refusing to hold a presidential debate between now and Election Day, CNN reverses course on Thursday and will feature both President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in a town hall event with voters. I invited you.
Harris quickly accepted the network’s invitation.
“While Mr. Trump may want to hide from voters, Vice President Harris welcomes the opportunity to share her vision for a new path forward for the country.” “I am pleased to accept CNN’s invitation to a live town hall,” Harris campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.
The network said the town hall will take place in front of a live audience of Pennsylvania’s persuasive and undecided voters.
“We continue to believe that the American people would benefit from hearing more from the two leading candidates for President of the United States, and that’s why CNN spoke to both Vice President Harris and President Trump’s campaign. We have invited them to participate in separate CNN town halls on October 23,” CNN said in a statement Thursday.
The network previously proposed a debate between Harris and Trump in Atlanta on October 23rd. Harris quickly accepted the invitation, but Trump repeatedly ignored her campaign’s efforts to coax her to attend.
With CNN’s proposal on the table and Thursday’s deadline for responses approaching, FOX News sent letters to both sides on Wednesday to host its own debate in Pennsylvania on October 24th or 27th. I offered to do it. The Harris camp would likely have responded. People familiar with the matter said they would also be invited if CNN’s deadline passes without an agreement.
But on Wednesday night, President Trump very bluntly said in a post on Truth Social that “there will be no rematch.”
The Republican candidate again claimed to have “won the last two debates” and accepted Fox’s previous invitation to the debate on September 4, but Harris did not accept, instead accepting Fox’s previous invitation to the debate on September 10. He expressed his desire to participate in a debate hosted by ABC on the same day.
President Trump also claimed that it was “too late” for a rematch with Harris. In fact, CNN’s proposed date coincided with the final debates of other recent election cycles.
On Thursday afternoon, CNN announced that it was aiming to hold a town hall with both candidates after the deadline passed.
Univision, the country’s main Spanish-language network, will air Harris and Trump’s town hall on Thursday night and Trump’s speech on October 16.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan and Samantha Woldenberg contributed reporting.
