Republican Donald Trump said on Thursday he would not participate in another presidential debate against his Democratic rival Kamala Harris ahead of the Nov. 5 election, as several polls showed that she beat him.
“THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” the former president wrote on social media site Truth Social, after participating in a debate against President Joe Biden in June and Vice President Harris on Tuesday.
Trump last month said he had proposed three debates with three television networks in September, claiming Fox News and NBC had agreed to host matchups before and after the Sept. 10 debate on ABC.
The Harris campaign had not agreed to those proposals at the time, but has been calling for another debate since majorities in several polls and U.S. media commentators praised her showing against Trump on Tuesday.
“I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate, because this election and what is at stake could not be more important,” Harris told voters at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, Thursday evening shortly before Trump’s post went live.
Although Trump touted his performance against Harris, six Republican donors and three Trump advisers who spoke to Reuters earlier this week said they thought Harris had won the debate largely because Trump was unable to stay on message.
The debate attracted 67.1 million television viewers, according to Nielsen data.
While Trump said in his post that polls showed he won the debate, several surveys showed that respondents thought Harris did better.
Among voters who said they had heard at least something about Tuesday’s debate, 53% said Harris won and 24% said Trump won, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.
The poll showed that 54% of registered voters believed that the single debate between Trump and Harris was enough, while 46% had wanted a second debate.
A majority of debate watchers said Harris outperformed Trump, according to a CNN flash poll released shortly after the debate. YouGov showed 54% of those surveyed said Harris won while 31% said Trump was the victor.
The vice-presidential candidates, Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance, are set to debate on Oct. 1.
—With additional files from Global News