Majority of Americans Want Second Debate Between Trump and Harris: Poll

Despite there being only three weeks left until Election Day on November 5, voters still want to see former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris debate one more time, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Trump, the GOP nominee, and Harris, the Democratic nominee, faced off on September 10 for what is now thought to be the only presidential debate of this year’s race. After the debate, which was hosted by ABC News, many thought that Harris had gotten the better of her counterpart, with Americans eagerly demanding another showdown between the two.
According to the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll, released on Sunday, 57 percent of those surveyed said that Harris and Trump “should agree to have another televised debate,” compared to 41 percent who do not wish to see a repeat of the September encounter. The poll was conducted online between October 4 and 8 and surveyed a random national sample of 2,631 adults. The margin of error was plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s and Harris’ campaign for comment via email.
Since the first debate between Trump and Harris, which attracted over 67 million viewers, the vice president’s campaign has expressed its openness to another one, though Trump has consistently dismissed the possibility.
Speaking to reporters immediately after the debate, the former president declared victory and called it his “best debate ever.” The Harris campaign, meanwhile, sent out an email that read: “Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”
“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’ the former president posted to Truth Social, his social media platform, on September 12, before adding: “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE.”
Trump and President Joe Biden held what was initially intended to be the first of three debates between the two rivals in Atlanta on June 27. During the head-to-head, Biden appeared at several points to lose his train of thought mid-sentence, sparking renewed concern over the 81-year-old’s age and mental agility. In the aftermath, a number of prominent Democrats urged Biden to drop out of the race. He duly did on July 21 and endorsed Harris.
While the former president has continued to rule out a second debate against Harris, several networks have approached them with this offer.
On September 21, Harris accepted CNN’s invitation for another debate on October 23. On October 10, however, the network announced that Trump had missed the deadline to formally respond to the invitation.
On October 9, hours after Fox News made a similar offer to host a debate on either October 24 or October 27, the former president posted to Truth Social that “there would be no rematch.”
He added: “I WON THE LAST TWO DEBATES, ONE WITH CROOKED JOE, THE OTHER WITH LYIN’ KAMALA,” before claiming that he is “LEADING IN THE POLLS, WITH THE LEAD GETTING BIGGER BY THE DAY – AND LEADING IN ALL SWING STATES.”
Sunday’s ABC News/Ipsos poll showed Harris leading 50 percent to 48 percent among likely voters and holding a comparable lead of 49 to 47 percent among registered voters.
Taking the combined polling averages of the seven battleground states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin—Trump and Harris are tied at 49 percent.
While a majority favor a second Harris-Trump debate, the poll also found a sharp party split between those who want to see this happen. Among registered voters who prefer Harris, 71 percent hope to see another debate, a figure which drops to only 45 percent among those who prefer Trump.
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