Trump wants three debates with Harris: 'We have to set the record straight'

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed that his campaign had reached agreements with three networks to hold presidential debates but that the Harris campaign had yet to accept any of the dates.

"I think it's very important to have debates, and we've agreed with Fox on a date of September 4," Trump said. "We've agreed with NBC, fairly full agreement, subject to them on September 10, and we've agreed with ABC on September 25. So, we have those three dates and those networks."

The campaign clarified while Trump was still speaking that ABC would host the Sept. 10 debate and that NBC would hold the Sept. 25 event, according to Punchbowl News's Jake Sherman.

Trump made the remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

"They're very anxiously awaiting that date and those dates," he went on. "So we have... September 4, September 10 and September 25. We have spoken to the heads of the network, and it's all been confirmed, other than some fairly minor details... The other side has to agree to the terms. They may or may not agree."

"She hasn't done an interview, she can't do an interview, she's barely competent, and she can't do an interview. But I look forward to the debates, because I think we have to set the record straight," Trump insisted.

"We'd like to do three to we think we should do three debates... we also have CBS to do the vice presidential debate," he said in response to a reporter question. "So CBS will do vice presidential and and I have to tell you, JD Vance has really stepped up. He's doing a fantastic job."

Ahead of the press conference, the campaign pressed Harris on her not holding press conferences and challenged her to address backlash over her choice of Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., as her running mate. Walz has faced scrutiny over his representation of his military record.

Trump spent much of the press conference addressing Harris's rise to the top of the Democratic ticket, suggesting that the Democrats had forced Biden to drop his reelection bid.

"We have somebody that hasn't received one vote for president, and she's running, and that's fine with me," Trump said. "But we were given Joe Biden, and now we're given somebody else, and I think, frankly, I'd rather be running against the somebody else. But [it's] their choice, they decided to do that because Kamala is record is horrible."

"The presidency was taken away from Joe Biden," Trump insisted. "And I'm no Biden fan, but I tell you what, from a constitutional standpoint, from any standpoint you look at, they took the presidency away. And people were saying he lost after the debate, he couldn't win. Well, I don't know that that's true, necessarily, but whether he could win or he couldn't win, he had the right to run. And they took it away."