[Cycling76er]

Trump pulls out of ABC debate as expected:

Donald Trump says he is pulling out of a scheduled September debate with U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris on ABC and wants them to face off on Fox News, making it increasingly unlikely that the candidates will confront each other on stage before the November election.

In a series of Truth Social posts late Friday, the Republican nominee and former president said his agreement to a Sept. 10 debate on ABC "has been terminated" because he will no longer face Democratic President Joe Biden, who ended his campaign last month after a disastrous performance in their first debate.

Trump now says he will appear on Fox News on Sept. 4 in Pennsylvania with rules that he called "similar" to his debate with Biden, but with a full audience instead of a mostly empty studio. Trump said that if Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, does not agree to the new network and date, he will do a "major town hall" with Fox News.

Michael Tyler, a Harris spokesperson, said Trump "is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out."

It was not immediately clear whether ABC would turn its Sept. 10 event into a Harris town hall in Trump's absence. Tyler said Harris is committed to the time slot and would appear "one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-...-fox-1.7285001