The Democratic National Committee will unveil a confrontational ad campaign in key battleground states starting Friday in Atlanta aimed at getting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, States Newsroom has learned.
Trump has not committed to a debate with Harris, who has said she wants to keep the Sept. 10 debate date set before she entered the race.
The ads, which will appear on the websites of major newspapers in key battleground states where Trump is campaigning, starting with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, describe the former president as someone who is “afraid to debate” Harris, according to a DNC news release.
The DNC plans to replicate the ads airing in Atlanta on the websites of other major newspapers in swing states on the days Trump campaigns in those states. The ads would typically air the day of a Trump campaign event, but the first ads in Atlanta will air over two days, Friday and Saturday, ahead of Trump’s appearance on Saturday, a DNC spokesman said.
The unusual ad buy highlights elements of Trump’s record that Democrats have criticized throughout the campaign, including a conservative policy project known as Project 2025, which calls for a nationwide abortion ban, and 34 felony charges in New York state that Trump has faced sentenced in May.
“Trump is a convicted felon whose 2025 Project would ban abortion nationwide,” reads one banner ad shared with States Newsroom ahead of its launch. “No wonder he’s afraid to debate.”
Trump and his campaign have sought to distance the candidate from the 2025 Project, created by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, but have failed to produce a comprehensive policy document to replace it.
Debate about debates
Trump agreed to two debates in May with President Joe Biden, then the presumptive Democratic nominee. But weeks after Biden’s needy showing in the first, June 27the incumbent president withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris, who was to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket.
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in a July 25 statement that Trump’s agreement to the September 10 debate did not necessarily hold after Biden withdrew because the Democratic nomination was still uncertain.
Harris is the only candidate for the Democratic nomination, which will be finalized during a virtual roll call of Democratic delegates that began Thursday. She is expected to accept the Democratic nomination at the party’s convention later this month in Chicago.
Trump campaigns in Harrisburg on first return trip to Pennsylvania since attempted assassination
The ads represent an escalation in Democrats’ campaign to bring Trump and Harris together on the debate stage.
At his own rally in Atlanta on Wednesday, hours after Trump made a baseless comment on Harris’ racial identity, Harris challenged former president to debate with her.
“Donald, I hope you’ll consider meeting me on the debate stage,” she said. “Because as the saying goes, if you have something to say, say it to my face.”
The September 10 debate was to be broadcast on ABC with moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC News. Further details, including the location, were to be announced closer to the date.
Democrats said Harris would still take part in the debate whether Trump shows up or not.
“No matter where Trump is on September 10, voters know where he stands,” DNC communications director Rosemary Boeglin said in a written statement. “Meanwhile, Vice President Harris will be on the debate stage to offer America a way forward — giving voters the choice to reject Trump’s MAGA extremism once and for all.”
