Trump closes the door to further debates with a strange message

The morning after Vice President Kamala Harris soundly defeated Donald Trump in a debate, the Democrat's campaign announced it would debate him again. The former president initially expressed distaste for the idea before declaring a day later that there would be no rematch.

Soon after, however, the Republican appeared to crack the door. NBC News reported that Trump left open the possibility of another debate with Harris, saying it could happen if he was in “the right mood.” The comments led some media networks to suggest there could be another event.

In fact, CNN invited both major party candidates to participate in a debate on October 23rd – Harris quickly accepted the invitation – and Fox News offered the candidates the opportunity to debate in Pennsylvania on either October 24th or 27th. (The broadcaster described this week's offering as “one final pitch.”)

Apparently that won't happen. NBC News reported:

In fact, the all-caps, 135-word tirade that the former president posted on his social media platform was quite strange. Trump insisted that he “won” the previous debate (which he didn't), claimed that he was “leading in all the polls” (which he doesn't), and concluded “there's nothing to debate.” (there is a lot to discuss).

Most notably, in the same online rant, Trump added that the process was “very late” and early voting had “already begun.” That's true, but the Republican candidate forgot to mention that in the 2016 and 2020 election cycles, he was only too happy to attend late October events while early voting was underway.

What is different in 2024? Of course, I can't read the former president's mind, but I have a hunch that it might have something to do with Harris beating him badly in the first duel, and he probably believes, with good reason, that the second isn't the case would be. It doesn't get any better.

At some point, Trump will probably realize that this makes him look like a coward, but in the electoral calculations he appears to have concluded that it is better to look weak than to show up on a debate stage looking worse – again.

For historical context, major party candidates have debated at least twice in every election cycle since 1976. Unless there is a dramatic and unexpected change of heart, they will only meet once this year.

This post updates our relevant previous reporting.