Do voters want a second Trump-Harris debate? What a new poll found
Most Americans would like to see a debate rematch between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, according to new polling, which comes just a month before the election.
In the latest Emerson College poll, 56% of respondents said they think the pair should have another debate, while 35% said they don’t believe they should.
More than two-thirds of Democrats, 69%, said they wanted a second Trump-Harris debate, while 41% of Republicans said the same, marking a 28-point difference.
Independents fell somewhere in the middle, with 58% saying they’d like another debate.
The poll, conducted between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1, sampled 1,000 likely voters and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Here’s what the candidates have said about a second debate.
Just hours after the Sept. 10 presidential debate, Harris’ campaign put out a statement saying Trump was “angry and rattled” and “totally incoherent” during their exchange.
“Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate,” the campaign added. “Is Donald Trump?”
Two days later, Trump responded in a post on Truth Social, saying he would not take part in another debate.
“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” he wrote. “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”
He also cited Harris’ refusal to take part in a Fox News debate.
In response, Democrats put up billboards in Pennsylvania and Indiana, calling Trump “a chicken” for declining to participate in another debate.
And on Sept. 21, Harris accepted a CNN invitation for a second debate, scheduled for Oct. 23 — just 13 days from Election Day. Trump declined that invitation, according to USA Today.
“It’s just too late - voting has already started,” the former president said at a rally in North Carolina, per the outlet. He also expressed doubt that the network would be impartial.
Since then, Harris has once again signaled she would like a rematch with Trump.
“I know we will cheer on Coach Walz when he debates JD Vance. But listen, also, their debate should not be the last word,” Harris said during a Sept. 29 rally in Nevada ahead of the Oct. 1 vice presidential debate, according to The Hill.
“I’m trying to debate Donald Trump again,” she added. “I think he should debate again. The American people have a right to hear us discuss the issues.”
In response to her latest remarks, a Trump campaign spokesperson told USA Today, “As President Trump has said, only losers request a rematch. Kamala Harris lost the debate, and she knows it.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2024 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Do voters want a second Trump-Harris debate? What a new poll found."