Trump and Harris to debate on Sep 10; Trump calls for two additional debates

Former US President Donald Trump and Democratic opponent Kamala Harris are set to debate on September 10 on ABC, marking their first face-to-face confrontation in what polls indicate is a tight race.

US Republican presidential candidate said during a news conference at his Palm Beach, Florida, residence, that he wanted extra debates on Sept. 4 and Sept. 25 that would air on Fox and NBC.

Replying to her opponent, Harris said in a post on X that she was looking forward to the September 10 debate after Trump "finally committed."

After a campaign stop in the Detroit area, she told reporters that she was open to considering more debates. However, a campaign official reiterated that a September 4 debate on Fox is not an option.

However, Trump previously stated that he might back out of the ABC debate, scheduled before Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate.

The September 10 debate on ABC was intended to be the second of two agreed-upon debates between Biden and Trump, following their June 27 debate on CNN.

Harris leads Trump by 5 points in latest poll

It is worth mentioning here, according to an Ipsos poll published on Thursday found Harris has widened her lead over Trump since late July. The US VP leads Trump 42% to 37%, compared with a July 22-23 Reuters/Ipsos survey that showed her up 37% to 34% over Trump.

The Palm Beach news conference by Trump on Thursday was his first public appearance since Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday.

This week, Harris and Walz have headlined rallies in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, attracting tens of thousands of attendees. Their late entry into the race appears to have energized Democrats. On Thursday, the Democratic duo visited a union hall, emphasising that their campaign views labor groups as crucial to tipping the balance in the election.

Watch: Harris draws more support among black voters, Trump up slightly among white voters: Ipsos poll

Interestingly, opinion polls show Harris has erased the lead Trump had built over Biden, and Democrats have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars from voters and big donors since she became the party's candidate.

In Thursday’s press conference Trump criticised Harris for not doing a press interview since launching her campaign.

"She can't do an interview. She's barely competent," Trump said, later again calling her "nasty," a go-to line that he often uses to disparage female critics.

(With inputs from agencies)