Donald Trump And J.D. Vance Hold First Joint Campaign Rally After The RNC

Donald Trump previously agreed to a second debate with Joe Biden, scheduled for September 10th on ABC News. However, there is now much speculation about whether Trump will agree to debate Kamala Harris instead. Harris has announced her intention to run for President.

The confusion began on Monday, July 22, when author and Democrat Stephen King (formerly on Twitter) tweeted: “Trump has announced he won’t debate Kamala Harris.” At the time of publication, the post had received over 18 million views. King, who has over seven million followers, was sharply criticized by the Trump team. “Stephen King is a dumba**,” said Trump 2024 campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.

King’s post came after Trump had expressed dissatisfaction with the September debate being hosted by ABC on his own social media platform. On Sunday, July 21, he wrote: “My debate with Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the history of the United States, was slated to be broadcast on Fake News ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, sometime in September. Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, has quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC. Thank you! DJT.”

U.S. Vice President and Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at West Allis Central High School during her first campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 23, 2024.

Trump again emphasized this view on Tuesday, again misspelling Stephanopoulos’ surname. “ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, is not worthy of holding a Debate, of which I hope there will be many! MAGA2024,” he said on Truth Social.

But later on Tuesday, during a conference call with the press, Trump told reporters that he “would be willing to do more than one debate actually,” he said. He is also quoted as saying: “If you’re the Democrat[ic] nominee or the Republican nominee, you really have an obligation to debate.”

TIME has reached out to the Trump campaign for further information and comment.