Trump and Harris may hold interviews instead of second debate - Axios
Former US President Donald Trump refused to have a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. However, both presidential candidates may give interviews, reports Axios.
The newspaper has learned that Trump and Harris are considering an interview on CBS News' 60 Minutes program. If this happens, they will be broadcast one after the other on October 7 as a grand finale to the campaign.
According to Axios, the Harris campaign is in active negotiations with the 60 Minutes program. Sources from Trump's entourage say that the interview will take place in the near future, but the date has not yet been determined.
60 Minutes reportedly took the unusual step of disclosing its intentions to conduct the interview in an article by David Bauder of the Associated Press on September 12.
It says that Scott Pelley was assigned to interview Trump, and Bill Whitaker was to interview Harris. Notably, Whitaker interviewed Harris last fall, which provided a familiarity factor that helped attract the campaign.
In addition, vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and J.D. Vance have also been invited to participate.
“I'm confident that this is going to work. For either campaign, it wouldn't be a great look if they turned down an opportunity to be on 60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, the show's executive producer, told AP.
Trump's refusal to debate
The first debate between Trump and Harris took place on September 10 on NBC News. At the time, according to a CNN poll, 63% of respondents believed that the current US Vice President was the winner. Trump's entourage unofficially said that at best it was a draw, at worst he lost.
After the debate, the Democratic candidate invited the Republican to meet for another debate. However, he refused.
Yesterday it became known that Harris accepted an invitation to the debate organized by CNN on October 23. In addition, she called on Trump to take part in them as well.
However, a few hours later, Trump refused, saying that it was “too late” for the debate.