Fox News Host Says Trump is Holding Up Debate, Not Harris

Fox News anchor Bret Baier said Tuesday that he could not understand why former President Donald Trump did not want to have a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Democratic nominee has accepted an invitation to debate on CNN on October 23, but her Republican rival has said it is too late to hold another.
Following the ABC debate on September 10, Trump called for a debate on Fox News, and Baier told radio host Hugh Hewitt he expected both parties to be in favor.
“The former President has come to the conclusion that there should not be another debate,” Baier said.
“Now, his reasoning, don’t know,” Baier continued. “I always thought that it would be like a bug zapper in the backyard for the former President in that he couldn’t get away from the light of 70 million viewers and that he would have to eventually, just knowing him, do it if it was on Fox and something he could agree to.”
Baier said he believed the Harris campaign would agree to a debate on his channel and that it was the Trump campaign that was the “hold up”.
The day after the last debate, Trump told Fox & Friends that he would not want to debate Harris if it was moderated by Baier and fellow host Martha MacCallum, instead offering up Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters and Laura Ingraham.
A debate on the channel has not been confirmed, while the CNN event was announced by the Harris campaign last week.
“I hope @realDonaldTrump will join me,” the vice president posted on X, formerly Twitter, at the time.
Baier said he believed that the Trump campaign was “moving past it”, with Hewitt saying a Fox debate would be fairer than the ABC one.
Trump told supporters in Wilmington last week that voting was already underway and therefore debating would not be right.
“She’s done one debate, I’ve done two, it’s too late to do another,” he said, referring to his debate with incumbent president Joe Biden earlier in the summer, following which the president dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris.
Trump has argued that he won the debate against Harris and that only those who lost would feel the need for another. He has made multiple media appearances throughout the campaign, including press conferences, while Harris has only given a select few face-to-face interviews.
Baier said Fox had also offered town halls for the candidates, while potential back-to-back interviews with 60 Minutes were also floated.
“As President Trump has said, only losers request a rematch. Kamala Harris lost the debate, and she knows it.” Karoline Leavitt, Trump Campaign National Press Secretary, said in a statement to Newsweek Wednesday evening,
Correction 09/25/24 6:50 p.m. ET: The spelling of Bret Baier has been updated.