Donald Trump claims he'll debate Kamala Harris despite legal issues with George Stephanopoulos

WASHINGTON, DC: Former president Donald Trump seemed to imply on Wednesday, August 7, that he won't be prevented from challenging Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC News due to a legal dispute with George Stephanopoulos of the Disney-owned network. 

Trump claimed on 'Fox & Friends' that the media was attempting to portray Harris as a liberal Margaret Thatcher, and he emphasized that the Democratic nominee hasn't interviewed since President Joe Biden was removed from the ticket.

Donald Trump says he doesn't know how Kamala Harris debates

"I don’t know how she debates. I heard she’s sort of a nasty person but not a good debater, but we’ll see because we’ll be debating her, I guess, in the pretty near future. It’s going to be announced fairly soon, but we’ll be debating her," Donald Trump said, per Fox News.

Donald Trump is suing George Stephanopoulos over comments he made in March

The co-hosts of 'Fox & Friends' were intrigued by Donald Trump's remarks because he has agreed to debate Kamala Harris on Fox News but has also stated that there may be a conflict of interest because he is sued by George Stephanopoulos regarding an earlier scheduled debate on ABC News, which was agreed to when Joe Biden was the front-runner.

Trump is suing Stephanopoulos for remarks he made in March, during which he falsely claimed on broadcast several times that the former US president had been found "liable for rape" in a civil lawsuit.

Recently, Trump won a legal battle when ABC's attempt to get the defamation lawsuit dismissed was unsuccessful. But in May, two months after filing his lawsuit, Trump consented to the ABC debate.

"I would like to see it on Fox, by the way… my preference would be Fox," Trump said as Steve Doocy asked if he was ready to make an announcement. "The most important thing is we get to debate, I think debates are very important," the GOP presidential nominee said.

The lawsuit is based on remarks made by Stephanopoulos during a heated discussion with Rep Nancy Mace (R-SC), on 'This Week' in March.

After playing a clip of Mace discussing being a victim of rape, Stephanopoulos asked her, "How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?" 

"You've endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape," Stephanopoulos said, alluding to the legal victory by Trump accuser E Jean Carroll.

During his altercation with Mace, Stephanopoulos reiterated that assertion eleven times, even though a jury in the civil case found that Trump was accountable for "sexual abuse," a term that has a specific meaning under New York law. Stephanopoulos has remained defiant, and ABC has stood by him.

How can Donald Trump appear on ABC News with legal problems?

Brian Kilmeade asked, "So, how could you go on ABC?" after pointing out that Donald Trump is suing the biggest personality on ABC News.

"Well, you can use that as an excuse, I could use that. I’ve said that, is there a conflict? You know, there might be. And George Slopadopoulos, he’s got problems and they’ve got problems, but they’re going to have, I guess, David Muir is going to be the host, you have all the hosts are pretty much named, you have Bret and Martha, and they’re great, and I’d love to see it on Fox but, you know, it takes two to tango," Trump said.

"She doesn’t want to debate," Trump said of Harris. "She wants to say I don’t want to debate, but I do want to debate. When it came to Biden, I accepted everything. I accepted Jake Tapper, I accepted everything … pretty much that’s the way I do it right now, because I want to debate her."

George Stephanopoulos wouldn't moderate Donald Trump-Kamala Harris ABC debate

George Stephanopoulos will not moderate the ABC debate if it happens.

ABC's David Muir and Linsey Davis were set to moderate the September 10 showdown between Trump and Biden and remain in place if Trump and Harris do agree to meet.

"Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out. He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10," Harris spokesman Michael Tyler said last week.

Donald Trump previously agreed to debate Kamala Harris

Donald Trump had previously committed to face Kamala Harris in a debate in Pennsylvania on September 4 with moderators Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier of Fox News.

Harris still hasn't agreed to the debate on September 4.

Internet calls George Stephanopoulos 'worst part' of ABC

The ABC News reporter was attacked by the netizens for disparaging Donald Trump on live television.

One X user tweeted, "Slopadopoulos has the Napoleon syndrome badly. One of the worst part of abc." Another echoed, "Slopadopalus is just another communist jew half ass pretend journalist."

"Kamala Harris is scared to debate on a news platform that won’t lie and cover for her," remarked one while someone else wrote, "Stephanopoulos should be disqualified for conflict of interest."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.