Trump and Harris disagree on presidential debate

US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are at odds over their first live debate, with each favoring a different television station and time.

Harris’ campaign is pushing for a debate to take place on ABC News on September 10, in the time slot previously scheduled for the debate between President Joe Biden and Mr. Trump.

But Mr Trump said the ABC debate was “terminated” due to Mr Biden dropping out of the race – and instead pushed for him and Ms Harris to debate on Fox News on 4 September.

The pair will face off in the presidential election when America goes to the polls on November 5.

The disagreement began after President Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, and Ms. Harris immediately became the favorite to win the Democratic nomination.

Since then, Mr. Trump has not made a commitment whether he will continue to participate in the previously scheduled debate on ABC News.

US television networks have been in talks with both campaigns to arrange new air dates.

On Friday night, Mr. Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social that he had accepted Fox News’ offer for a debate on September 4, which is scheduled to take place in Pennsylvania — a key battleground state.

He wrote that the debate moderators would be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum of Fox News — and the rules would be similar to his debate with Mr Biden.

“If for some reason Kamala is unwilling or unable to debate that day, I have agreed with Fox to hold a large town meeting on the evening of September 4,” he wrote.

Mr Trump added that the previous deal was terminated because Joe Biden was no longer involved and because his defamation lawsuit against the network would have created a conflict of interest.

Harris’s campaign responded that the former president was “scared” and trying to back out of the agreed-upon debate. They said he was going straight to Fox News — a conservative cable channel — to “rescue him.”

“He needs to stop playing games and get to the debate he committed to on September 10,” said Michael Tyler, communications director for the Harris campaign.

Ms Harris went on to share on social media that it was interesting how “anytime, any place” became “a specific moment, a specific safe space”.

“I will be there on September 10, as he agreed,” she wrote.

Ms Harris’s team said they were open to further discussions about future debates but only after a debate had been agreed to take place.

If the next debate takes place, people will be watching closely to see how the two candidates will fare against each other.

Ms Harris received enough pledges to become the Democratic nominee on Friday.

At a campaign rally in Atlanta on Wednesday, Ms Harris challenged Mr Trump to debate her, saying “if you have something to say, say it to my face”.

News of the controversy came just hours after the Department of Homeland Security reported that the U.S. Secret Service made mistakes in its response to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Ms Harris, then vice-president-elect, came within 20ft (6m) of an “active” pipe bomb placed outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington.

That bomb — and a similar one found at the Republican National Committee headquarters — were placed near the buildings the night before Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. It remains unclear who placed both pipe bombs.