Vice President Kamala Harris said following her highly anticipated debate against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday that she’ll agree to another one that would come in addition to an Oct. 1 debate between running mates Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.).
According to the Washington Post, citing an unnamed source, the decision to request an additional debate was made before Tuesday’s event, which was hosted by ABC. But that seems unlikely given that Harris’ team has refused publicly to commit to any additional debates for weeks.
Rather, it seems more likely that Harris’ team thought she outperformed Trump and thus, will now agree to meet him again.
“Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face this fall at the ballot box: between moving forward with Kamala Harris, or going backwards with Trump,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement following the debate. “That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see at a second debate in October. Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”
The Post acknowledged that Trump has previously called for three debates with Harris, though the outlet said it was not immediately clear whether he would agree to a second one after Tuesday’s event in Philadelphia. “We’ll look at it, but they want a second debate because they lost,” Trump told reporters in the spin room following the debate.
Chris LaCivita, a Trump campaign adviser, responded the Harris team’s statement with a brief comment. “Of course,” he wrote. “They need clean up.”
The Harris campaign’s decision is motivated by a concerted effort to increase her visibility with undecided voters, many of whom are still less familiar with her candidacy compared to Trump’s, the Post reported. Despite having a larger field operation and spending significantly more on advertising, the Harris campaign has recently focused on introducing her and her agenda to voters, portraying her as “A New Way Forward,” even while she holds her current position in the White House.
Since the final night of the Democratic National Convention in August, the Harris campaign has invested $101 million in television, radio, and digital ads, according to AdImpact, while the Trump campaign has spent $47 million. When including spending by outside groups focused on the presidential election, Democrats have outspent Republicans $186 million to $138 million, as reported by AdImpact.
A SuperPAC funded in large part by billionaire Tesla, Starlink, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, meanwhile, is preparing to launch a series of digital ads aimed initially at swing state voters in support of former President Donald Trump, and the messaging is distinct and direct.
“If you sit this election out, Kamala and the crazies will win,” notes one ad on Google’s YouTube, which has been viewed more than three million times. “You will be stuck with higher costs and more illegals invading our country.” It also depicts Trump as an “American Badass,” using imagery of him pumping his first in the air following the July assassination attempt and imploring everyone to “fight, fight, fight!”
“We must STOP Kamala while we can,” reads an America PAC ad on Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook, where Musk’s PAC has placed the vast majority of its digital ad spend. “Arizona families have had ENOUGH of radical liberals.”
Bloomberg News reports that another ad on Facebook includes a voice-over with a Russian accent: “Meet Comrade Kamala,” the 30-second video says. “Ready to bring Soviet Union to Michigan.”
Also on X, one ad recalls how the former president’s political opponents “tried to kick Trump off your ballot” before adding: “They even tried to end his campaign and take him out for good.”
