Kamala Harris’ campaign immediately called for a second debate between the vice president and former President Donald Trump after Tuesday night’s debate on ABC News ended.
“Under the bright lights, Americans were presented with the choice they will face at the ballot box this fall: go forward with Kamala Harris or go backward with Trump,” Harris’ campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said in a statement. “That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see at a second debate in October. Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”
Democrats and even some Republicans felt Harris’ performance in the Philadelphia debate was better than Trump’s, so the call for a second debate is likely intended as a vote of confidence.
According to reports, the Trump campaign has agreed to a debate on September 25, which will be moderated by NBC News.
Harris’ campaign called Trump incoherent, angry and agitated during the debate, accusing him of “not having any plan for the everyday needs of Americans.”
During her opening and closing statements, Harris emphasized that she had plans for families in the form of expanded tax breaks.
She also provoked Trump to defend the size of his rallies and his 1989 call for the execution of the Central Park Five, the five teenagers accused of raping a jogger in New York City and later acquitted.
Trump said voters could not count on Harris’ plans because she has been vice president for three years and has not yet implemented them.
Trump’s campaign declared victory on Tuesday.
“We watched President Trump lay out his bold vision for America and how he would build on the successes of his first term by boosting the economy, securing the border and ending the crime that is plaguing communities across the country,” Trump campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement.
