Former President Donald Trump’s newest excuse for why he won’t debate Vice President Kamala Harris just doesn’t have the numbers to back it up.
During an interview on Fox Business Friday morning, host Maria Bartiromo asked Trump if he would consider going head-to-head with Harris.
“Well, I want to. And we’re leading in the polls, it seems, by quite a bit, still. She’s better than he is, but ultimately I think she’ll be worse than him,” Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden.
“I mean, right now I say, why should I do a debate?” Trump said. “I’m leading in the polls. And, everybody knows her, everybody knows me.”
Trump sure sounds like he’s leaning toward not debating Harris: “Right now, I say why should I do a debate? I’m leading in the polls.” (Trump is not leading in the polls.) pic.twitter.com/fkjKuNgbK6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 2, 2024
Trump doesn’t think he needs to debate Harris because he’s already beating her, but it’s not actually clear that that’s the case. Several national polls released this week found that Harris was polling ahead of Trump.
A poll conducted by RMG Research between July 29 and 31 and published Friday found that Harris was leading by a whopping five points at 47 percent, compared to Trump’s 42 percent. A YouGov/The Economist poll, which surveyed people between July 27 and 30, found that Harris was beating Trump by two points, 46 percent to 44 percent.
A Leger survey published Wednesday, which was conducted between July 26 and 28, found that Harris was beating Trump 49 percent to 46 percent. A Civiqs poll published Wednesday for the Daily Kos found that Harris was ahead by four points, with her sitting at 49 percent to his 45 percent. These are just a few of the polls that have placed Harris ahead of Trump.
Project 538, which aggregates national poll results, including some of those listed above, found that Harris was squarely ahead, polling at 45 percent to Trump’s 43 percent. Over the course of the week, Harris has successfully widened the gap between her and Trump.
This isn’t the first time Trump’s excuse for getting out of a debate has evaporated right in front of him. Trump’s team previously said that they would not schedule any more presidential debates until the Democrats formally nominated their candidate, specifically citing Harris’s lack of support from former President Barack Obama. Within hours, she had secured Obama’s endorsement.
Harris’s campaign released a statement in response to Trump’s newest lame excuse. “Donald Trump needs to man up. He’s got no problem spreading lies and hateful garbage at his rallies or in interviews with right-wing commentators. But he’s apparently too scared to do it sitting across the stage from the Vice President of the United States,” the statement said.
Harris’s campaign has insisted that she will be attending the presidential debate hosted by ABC News, which is scheduled for September 10, regardless of whether her opponent deigns to appear.
“She’ll be waiting there to see if he shows up,” the statement said.
