Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday she has accepted an offer from CNN for a second presidential debate against former President Donald Trump on Oct. 23.
Harris said in a statement on X that she accepted the offer for the debate and called on her opponent to accept as well.
“I hope @realDonaldTrump will join me,” she said in her post.
The Harris campaign challenged Trump to another debate less than an hour after the Sept. 10 ABC News presidential debate ended. However, Trump said in a statement that he would not participate in another debate against Harris.
During a rally Saturday in North Carolina, Trump didn’t directly mention the CNN debate, but reiterated he is not open to another matchup.
“It’s too late to do another. I’d love to, in many ways, but it’s too late. The voting is cast,” he said referring to early voting that has begun in several states.
The October CNN debate would have the same rules as the debate in June that the network held between Trump and President Joe Biden, according to Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon. That includes no audience and the microphones would be muted when one candidate isn’t speaking, sources with knowledge of the rules told ABC News.
The debate would take place long after early voting begins in several states across the country. A debate between vice presidential candidates Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance is scheduled for Oct. 1 on CBS.
“It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate,” O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. adding that “debates offer a unique chance for voters to see the candidates side by side and take stock of their competing visions for America.”
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Harris’ fundraising triples Trump’s in August, growing Democrat’s warchest, FEC filings show
Vice President Kamala Harris raised more than triple the amount of funds that former President Donald Trump did in August, giving her team a massive financial advantage as the presidential race enters its final weeks, according to the latest disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee entered the final two full months of the 2024 election cycle with $286 million in the bank, compared to the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee’s $214 million, according to the filings.
This comes after the Harris campaign and the DNC raised $257 million in the month of August, while the Trump campaign and the RNC raised $85 million the same month, filings show.
Earlier this month, both campaigns voluntarily released their total August fundraising figures that included the total figures from their joint fundraising operation with state party committees, revealing a major money edge Harris had maintained for the Democratic Party.
The Harris campaign and the DNC spent $258 million in August, almost exactly the amount they raised, and the Trump campaign and the RNC spent $121 million despite raising $85 million, the latest filings show.
Last month, billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk made his largest federal political contribution to date, giving a total of $289,100 to the NRCC, the committee dedicated to supporting House GOP candidates. He did not make any contribution to the RNC or the NRSC, which focuses on Senate campaigns.
Musk had in the past given $50,000 to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s joint fundraising committee for House GOP, and $36,000 to Obama’s 2012 campaign.
Some top Republican donors who had supported former Gov. Nikki Haley during the Republican primary season are apparently finally coming around in support of Trump, writing big checks to the main super PAC supporting Trump.
Hedge fund manager Paul E. Singer gave $5 million to Make America Great Again Inc., after serving as a vocal supporter of Haley earlier this year, according to filings. Investment banker Warren Stephens, who had given $1 million to a pro-Haley super PAC last year, gave the same amount to the pro-Trump super PAC, according to filings.
Trump’s Save America PAC’s new filing also shows that it spent nearly $2 million on legal bills in August, with one of Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, receiving more than $1 million of that sum. Other top firms paid by Save America include James Otis Law Group LLC, Habba Madaio & Associates LLP, Rober & Robert PLLC and Richard C. Klugh PA.
Notably, the Trump campaign reported a handful of small security services expenditures paid to Apocalypse Arms and Military Surplus in late July, after an assassination attempt against the former president, the latest report shows. The total amounts to $555.
