THREE KEY FACTS

• Kamala Harris has accepted CNN’s invitation for an October 23 presidential debate, urging Donald Trump to join.
• Trump, who has expressed disinterest, said an October debate would be "too late" as voting has started.
• CNN stated the debate would follow the same format as the June 27 Biden-Trump face-off.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris has accepted CNN’s invitation for an October 23 presidential debate, with her campaign calling on former US President and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to do the same.

“Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate,” Harris campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said on Saturday in a statement. “It is the same format and set-up as the CNN debate he attended and said he won in June, when he praised CNN’s moderators, rules and ratings.”

Trump, who debated Harris on September 10, has said several times that he is not interested in another debate.

Former US president Donald Trump and US Vice-President Kamala Harris during the presidential debate hosted by ABC News on September 11 in Philadelphia. Photo / AFP

Trump said he would not agree to a rematch with Harris, saying an October debate would be too late.

“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late,” he said during a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. “Voting has already started.”

Trump has claimed he won the debate against Harris, though most polls show Harris as the victor. Harris has been saying on the campaign trail that her stand-off with Trump was “fun” and he owed it to the public to face her on-stage again.

“It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate,” O’Malley Dillon said. “Debates offer a unique chance for voters to see the candidates side by side and take stock of their competing visions for America.”

CNN said the debate would follow the format of the June 27 face-off between US President Joe Biden and Trump, taking place at the company’s Atlanta studios and without a live audience.

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Harris’s campaign, which originally sought to change the rules that had been sought by allies of Biden before he ended his presidential bid, said it would accept muted microphones and other restrictions during a CNN debate.

Biden’s halting performance during that debate ultimately led to his decision to end his candidacy. Trump praised CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, who did not fact-check him during the debate.

The former President has complained about ABC’s moderators, who called out some of his falsehoods during the September 10 debate with Harris.

“Both Vice-President Harris and former President Trump received an invitation to participate in a CNN debate this fall as we believe the American people would benefit from a second debate between the two candidates for president of the United States,” CNN said in a statement. “We look forward to receiving a response from both campaigns so the American public can hear more from these candidates as they make their final decision.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to the Washington Post’s request for comment.

Trump has vacillated between expressing openness to another debate and asserting he would not participate in one.

“THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” he posted on his Truth Social platform this month.