ABC confirms Trump, Harris to debate during former president’s first news conference in months

Former President Donald Trump proposed three dates for debates in September with Vice President Kamala Harris, suggesting he was eager to face off with the new Democratic presidential nominee this fall.

Trump spoke at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, where he repeatedly mispronounced Harris’ first name, criticized her intelligence and resurrected a series of familiar attacks casting her as “a radical left person.” As he continued answering questions, ABC confirmed that the network would host the two candidates for a debate on Sept. 10.

The event marked the former president’s first public appearance since Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, transforming the contest into a more competitive race. Trump insisted that little had shifted in the contest, despite polling showing a tightening race and as Democrats draw tens of thousands of supporters to rallies in swing states.

“I haven’t recalibrated strategy at all,” Trump said. “It’s the same policies – open borders, weak on crime.”

Trump’s news conference marks an effort by the former president to recapture some political momentum. After years of dominating news coverage, headlines about the new Democratic ticket have overtaken the focus on Trump in recent weeks. He accused Harris of lacking the competency to participate in a news conference or a media interview, which she has not done since becoming her party’s nominee.

Trump appeared particularly vexed by the size of Harris’ crowds, which he insisted were far smaller than his – and bigger than those who attended the Rev. Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech in 1963.

As is typical for the former president, his remarks were littered with falsehoods. He falsely accused Democrats of violating the Constitution by replacing President Joe Biden on the ticket. He said nobody was killed on the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol, when in fact several people died, including one Trump supporter, who was shot dead by the Capitol Police.

Republicans have struggled to unify around a central line of attack against Harris and her new running mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. At the same time, Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, has been damaged by a series of controversial statements.

In Michigan, Harris and Walz will appear with Shawn Fain, the president of the influential United Auto Workers union that endorsed Harris last week.

Here’s what else to know:

• Canceled campaigning: Efforts to define the Democratic ticket to voters are being diminished by severe weather from Tropical Storm Debby, leading both campaigns to postpone events Thursday in North Carolina. The Harris campaign canceled a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday and an event in Savannah, Georgia, on Friday morning, while the Trump campaign canceled Thursday events led by Vance in Raleigh and Oakboro, North Carolina. Both campaigns will head west to resume events Friday evening.

• Biden to Delaware: Biden, who ended his campaign last month, will surely show encouragement when he visits the Harris campaign headquarters – formerly the nerve center of his re-election operation – in Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday evening.

• Antiwar protesters: Pro-Palestinian protesters heckled Harris during her rally in Detroit on Wednesday, resurfacing divisions over the war in the Gaza Strip that have roiled the Democratic Party for months. Members of the Uncommitted National Movement said they asked Harris before the rally for a meeting to discuss an arms embargo on Israel. Her reaction to the protesters Wednesday showed how she can turn efforts to rattle her to her own advantage.

• Two running mates with military records: Vance, who served for four years in the Marines, attacked Walz, whose career in the National Guard spanned 24 years, on his military record, accusing him of retiring early to avoid being deployed to Iraq in 2005.

The Harris-Walz campaign pointed to past comments from fellow guard members who said that Walz had been considering running for office for some time and that the decision to retire from the military had weighed heavily on him.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.