((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Adds Trump’s comments in paragraphs 3-4)
Donald Trump on Saturday rejected a new debate with Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the US presidential election, hours after the Democratic candidate’s campaign said she had agreed to a debate with her Republican rival on October 23 on CNN.
“Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share the stage with Donald Trump, and she has accepted CNN’s invitation to a debate on October 23. Donald Trump should have no problem accepting this debate,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, Harris’ campaign chairwoman, said in a statement.
Mr Trump stuck to his previous position that there would be no new debate before voters go to the polls in the November 5 election.
“The problem with another debate is it’s too late. The voting has already started,” the former US president said at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump debated each other for the first time on September 10, in a debate that Ms. Harris won according to polls.
Mr. Trump debated President Joe Biden in June.
Mr. Biden’s shaky performance in the debate has rattled Democrats and prompted strategists to wonder whether their party should take the unprecedented step of replacing the 81-year-old president as its nominee.
In July, Mr Biden withdrew from the race for the White House ().
