The former president derided the network in a social media post and questioned why he would participate in the debate, which is scheduled for Sept. 10.
- Share full article
Former President Donald J. Trump criticized ABC News in a social media post on Sunday.
Former President Donald J. Trump, in a social media post on Sunday night, questioned his agreement to debate Vice President Kamala Harris next month.
Mr. Trump had agreed months ago to a debate with President Biden on Sept. 10 on ABC News. After Mr. Biden ended his campaign and Ms. Harris replaced him as the Democratic nominee, Mr. Trump wavered, trying to get Ms. Harris to agree to debate on Fox News instead, but he ultimately agreed to honor the original plan.
On Sunday, though, he complained about what he called a “ridiculous and biased interview” of Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, by the ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, and about ABC’s “so-called Panel of Trump Haters.”
“I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?” he wrote.
He continued, misspelling the name of the Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and using a disparaging nickname for the news anchor George Stephanopoulos: “Will panelist Donna Brazil give the questions to the Marxist Candidate like she did for Crooked Hillary Clinton? Will Kamala’s best friend, who heads up ABC, do likewise. Where is Liddle’ George Slopadopolus hanging out now? Will he be involved. They’ve got a lot of questions to answer!!! Why did Harris turn down Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN? Stay tuned!!!”
The debate between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden in June was on CNN.
The candidates’ tussling over the dates, venues and formats of debates has been almost as contentious this year as the first debate was.
For decades, the forums have been organized in a standardized manner by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. But this year, the commission was sidelined when Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump agreed to negotiate directly with television networks, and to hold the events earlier than the commission had. They agreed to a debate on CNN on June 27, and a debate on ABC News on Sept. 10.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Source: nytimes.com