Washington — Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he won’t debate Vice President Kamala Harris again, following Tuesday night’s matchup between the two in Philadelphia.
“THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” Trump said at the end of a long post on his Truth Social account. The first presidential debate was in June between Trump and President Biden.
“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Trump wrote in his post, explaining his decision and insisting unnamed polls showed he won.
Later in the day, at a campaign stop in Tucson, Arizona, he said, “Because we’ve done two debates and because they were successful, there will be no third debate. Too late anyway, the voting has already begun.”
But initial polls by Reuters, YouGov and CNN showed a wide majority of voters thought Harris outperformed Trump. Most commentators and observers agreed that Harris got the upper hand in the showdown, with the vice president generally remaining on the attack while putting Trump on the defensive.
Trump at times struggled to focus his messaging, repeating debunked claims that Haitian migrants are eating pets, insisting people aren’t leaving his rallies early and saying he has “concepts” of a health care plan.
Shortly after Trump’s post, Harris addressed a crowd at a rally in North Carolina, where she said she was open to another debate.
“I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate,” she said.
Many of Trump’s allies also said they thought Harris had come out on top in Philadelphia. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who endorsed Trump after dropping his independent bid for president, told Fox News on Wednesday that Harris “clearly won the debate in terms of her delivery, her polish, her organization, and her preparation,” even though “I think on substance, President Trump wins in terms of his governance.”
“But he didn’t tell that story,” Kennedy told Fox News.
After the debate ended Tuesday night, Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia posted to X, “You want to know who won? Find out who refuses to do a 2nd debate.”
contributed to this report.