The folks over at Fox News are trying desperately to arrange one more face-to-face debate between GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, making a last-minute pitch to both campaigns concerning the idea. The network revealed that it has sent a letter from executives to host a debate in the swing state of Pennsylvania on Oct. 24 or 27, with Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier serving as event moderators. Honestly, if you’re going to do a debate, those two are professionals that you can trust not to inject themselves into the topic of conversation and also avoid fact-checking on the spot.
“This would present an opportunity for each candidate to make his or her closing arguments,” Fox News Media president and executive editor Jay Wallace and vice president of politics Jessica Loker said in the letter, according to The Western Journal.
In their letter to the campaigns, the two referenced a recent column in The New York Times arguing Harris should appear on the conservative news outlet before the election.
“She hasn’t made her closing argument yet. And the best way for her to do that is in another debate. To persuade Donald Trump to join her, she should offer to hold that debate on Fox News,” opinion editor David Swerdlick commented. “Yes, time is running out, but the final 2020 debate was on Oct. 22 of that year,” he continued. “Yes, Trump would have to agree to do it — and based on his recent approach he probably wouldn’t — but Harris already knows that there’s no way he’ll accept her challenge to debate on CNN on Oct. 23.”
“There’s only one network where Harris would have another opportunity to speak to 67 million people at once, so why not?” Swerdlick posited.
I’m not so sure, however, that Trump should do another debate against Harris or that one is even necessary. But, since the proposal is that one be hosted on Fox, that could negate much of the threat of being ganged up on by moderators. The real question is do we need another debate? Personally, I think we know good and well where both of these individuals stand on the issues and most of us, at this point, know who we are going to vote for.
He further argued that “Harris doesn’t need to throw Trump to the proverbial mat,” but just turn in a solid debate performance. Swerdlick concluded, “[I]f it makes sense to debate on another network, it also makes sense to go on Fox News.” Immediately after the ABC News debate last month, Harris’ campaign called for another face-off. Trump responded on Truth Social, writing, “When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I want a rematch.’”
He noted that she was a “no-show” for the Fox News debate in early September, so he ended up doing a town hall on the network instead. Harris did not accept the debate invitation from Fox. Trump concluded, “There will be no third debate.” Trump concluded, “There will be no third debate.”
President Trump confirms: “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE” pic.twitter.com/1OyBHgLGOx
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) September 12, 2024
The latest polling suggests the former president has gained the upper-hand in his battle against Harris, which might make him even less likely to debate. Why take a chance of shifting that momentum with a bad debate performance?
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