Washington: The Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump, has said that he will not take part in a second presidential debate against the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump asserted on Thursday that he had won the debate emceed by ABC News in Philadelphia on Tuesday night and accused Harris of turning down invitations to debates from Fox News, NBC News, and CBS News in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
In a post on social media platform X, Harris said on Thursday that "we owe it to the voters to have another debate."
Harris' campaign also claimed victory in the first debate between the two. "Vice President Harris commanded the stage on every single issue that matters to the American people," according to a statement released earlier, IANS reported.
A CNN poll of debate watchers showed that 63 per cent agreed that Harris turned in a better performance onstage in Philadelphia, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to Fox News, 12 voters on a panel thought Harris won the debate, while five believed Trump won. Many said that Trump did not know how to attack his new opponent in the presidential race.
A New York Times article noted that after the debate, many Democratic strategists and officials cheered Harris' performance, while Republicans complained about the "tenor of the questions" from the moderators and acknowledged Trump's "missed opportunities" to unleash focused attack lines.