Donald Trump said he'll 'probably end up' debating Kamala Harris and slammed the Democrats for what he calls a 'coup' to replace Joe Biden.
Harris has accused Trump and his campaign of backtracking on the presidential debate set for September 10 on ABC.
While the Trump campaign has previously said that they're waiting to be sure Harris is actually the candidate after how quickly the Democrats replaced Biden, he admitted he will likely debate Harris.
'I want to do a debate but I also can say this: everybody knows who I am and now people know who she is,' he said. 'She's a radical left lunatic, she'll destroy our country.'
When pressed as to why not put that information out on the debate stage, Trump said that 'everybody already knows'.
Donald Trump said he'll 'probably end up' debating Kamala Harris and slammed the Democrats for what he calls a 'coup' to replace Joe Biden
Fox News' Laura Ingraham suggested that Democrats might say that he's 'afraid' of debating.
He then restated his previous debate triumphs in 2016 and 2020 before revealing some of his terms.
'The answer is yes, I'll probably end up debating. I think the debates should take place before the votes start being cast'.
He said that his second debate against Biden went great but that too many early votes had already been cast.
'So the answer is yes but I can also make a case for not doing it,' Trump added.
Trump is not necessarily committing to the terms of the debate as originally set because he doesn't want ABC News to benefit from it.
'I don't like rewarding fake news. They're gonna make tens of millions of dollars with this debate. I don't like that ABC's gonna' get rich,' before mentioning his frequent target, anchor George Stephanopoulos, whom he refers to as 'Slopadopoulos'.
Trump praised CNN and Jake Tapper, saying they had been 'very fair' to him during the first debate with Biden in June.
Harris has accused Trump and his campaign of backtracking on the presidential debate set for September 10 on ABC
Trump is not necessarily committing to the terms of the debate as originally set because he doesn't want ABC News to benefit from it, after saying CNN had been 'very fair' to him in the June 27 debate
He then revealed that 'maybe' the CNN debate was a mistake, because he claimed he'd beat Biden so badly, 'that was the end of him'.
'You could see that he was not gonna make it any more. Now, we have [Harris]. I would rather run against her'.
In a statement on Monday, Harris' campaign said she will be there for a debate on September 10 hosted by ABC, which had previously been agreed to by Trump and Biden.
'The American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,' they said.
'If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than "we’ll see you there," - and it appears that they are - it’s a convenient, but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on September 10th - we’ll see if Trump shows.'
At one point last week, Trump said he was ready and willing to take on Harris in a debate after she was anointed as his new opponent.
On Tuesday, in a briefing call with reporters, he dismissed Harris's ability as a campaigner and said he was ready to debate her more than once.
'I'd want to,' he said. 'I think it's important.
Trump revealed that 'maybe' the CNN debate was a mistake, because he claimed he'd beat Biden so badly, 'that was the end of him'
In a statement on Monday, Harris' campaign said she will be there for a debate on September 10 hosted by ABC, which had previously been agreed to by Trump and Biden
Trump also repeated his recent claim that Joe Biden and his former boss Barack Obama don't like one another and that his predecessor engaged in a coup against Biden.
'That was a coup on an American president. Obama doesn't like [Biden] and he doesn't like Obama.'
Trump then said he believed recent reporting that suggested that Biden was threatened with the 25th amendment and removal from office.
'That's what happened, we'll do it the easy way or the hard way'.
It comes as Harris has seen a recent boost in the polls in a 'honeymoon' phase after replacing Biden on the ticket.
According to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, Harris' favorability rating among Americans hit 43 percent in late July. It's a sharp increase from its 35 percent before Biden exited the race.
Trump also repeated his recent claim that Joe Biden and his former boss Barack Obama don't like one another and that his predecessor engaged in a coup against Biden
Her unfavorable rating was 42 percent, down from 46 percent before Biden dropped out.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who serves as co-chair of the Harris campaign, shed more light on the timeline in which Harris is expected to pick a running mate.
'Everything's truncated, and she's going to make that decision probably in the next six, seven days,' Harris said. 'I imagine we'll know who her running mate is.'
It comes as the Democratic National Convention is coming up later next month, but Democrats have a August 7 deadline to nominate their candidates to make sure they get on the ballot in every state.
