Donald Trump made his first televised appearance since Vice President Kamala Harris selected her running mate, speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday.
During the impromptu presser, the former president announced that he had agreed to three debates with three news networks: Fox News on Sept. 4, NBC on Sept. 10, and ABC on Sept. 25.
“We have spoken to the heads of the network and it’s all been confirmed, other than some fairly minor details,” Trump claimed. “The other side has to agree to the terms. They may or may not agree. I don’t know if they will agree.”
ABC quickly clarified that both campaigns had agreed to participate in a debate on Sept. 10 — not Sept. 25 — which had been scheduled before Biden dropped out of the race.
Trump had attempted to back out of the encounter last month as Democrats debated who would replace Biden at the top of the presidential ticket. Instead, the former president requested a debate with his preferred propaganda machine, Fox News.
“He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept. 10,” the Harris campaign said earlier this month, adding that even if Trump skips out the vice president would still “take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience.”
The meteoric enthusiasm surrounding Harris has clearly rattled the Trump campaign. As previously reported by Rolling Stone, one Republican close to the former president has expressed that Trump is “unhappy with the narrative” surrounding Harris, particularly about her crowd sizes.
When asked at Mar-a-Lago about Harris’ blockbuster crowds, Trump ranted that “nobody has spoken to crowds bigger than me,” and claimed that his crowd of supporters on Jan. 6 may have been larger than the crowd who gathered to listen to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
“When [Harris] gets 1,000 people and everyone starts jumping, you know if I had 1,000 people, people would say that’s the end of his campaign,” Trump said. “The enthusiasm is with me in the Republican Party.”
In one tense exchange, Trump lashed out at a reporter who asked him about his absence from the campaign trail in the last week, and concerns he wasn’t taking the race seriously. “What a stupid question. Because I’m leading by a lot,” Trump retorted. The former president’s lead on Harris is slim, if it exists at all, and seems to be shrinking as the vice president gains momentum.
Trump cited the amount of interviews, taped statements, and televised appearances he makes from Mar-a-Lago as part of his campaign. He also leveled several attacks against Harris, particularly against her intelligence. “[Harris is] not doing a news conference,” he added. “You know why she’s not doing it? Because she can’t do a news conference. She doesn’t know how to do a news conference. She’s not smart enough to do a news conference and I’m sorry, we need smart people to lead this country.”
Trump also spoke at length about how the Democratic Party stole the nomination from Biden, falsely claiming it was “unconstitutional.” Despite fantasizing about Biden getting back in the race, he claimed on Thursday that he’s glad to be running against Harris. “I’m not a big fan of his brain,” Trump said of the current president before noting that he’s still smarter than Harris.
Regardless of whether Harris is currently holding press conferences, she seems to be doing quite well, and the former president clearly can’t stand it.