Trump agrees to Fox News offer to debate Vice-President Harris on September 4

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has agreed to an offer from Fox News to hold a debate with Democratic US Vice-President Kamala Harris on September 4, he said in a post on Truth Social late on Friday.

It was not immediately clear if Harris had agreed to the debate.

“Rules will be similar to the rules of my debate with Sleepy Joe, who has been treated horribly by his party, but with a full arena audience,” Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden, who has since dropped his re-election bid.

The post was removed for a few minutes before being reposted, with Trump deleting his proposal for a “major” town hall gathering on the same date if Harris was “unwilling or unable to debate”.

Harris had responded last month that she was “ready” after Fox News proposed the presidential debate between the two candidates on September 17.

After Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and backed Harris, Trump said he would not debate her because she was not the official candidate.

As proof of her lack of support, he added that former President Barack Obama had yet to endorse her. But Obama did so a day later, and on Friday, she secured the delegate votes needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.

“This date is convenient and appropriate in that it is just prior” to the September 6 start of early voting in the presidential election, Trump said in the Truth Social post.

Harris has been pushing Trump to follow through with a debate he scheduled against President Joe Biden, hosted by ABC News on September 10. Trump said that debate on ABC in part “has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant,” according to the post.

He also said he was in litigation against the ABC network and George Stephanopoulos, and “thereby creating a conflict of interest.”

In Trump’s first debate with Biden, the president delivered a disastrous performance that eventually led him to end his re-election bid and endorse Harris. There was no live audience in that debate.