Kamala Harris vows to debate Trump's empty podium if he skips September debate

Former President Donald Trump is refusing to commit to the second presidential debate in September — but Vice President Kamala Harris plans to appear even if he doesn't show up, reported The Hill on Monday.

“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” said Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler. “If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘we’ll see you there,’ — and it appears that they are — it’s a convenient, but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on September 10th — we’ll see if Trump shows.”

This is a strong implication that if Harris shows up to the debate — and Trump does not — Harris will debate an empty podium where Trump was expected to be — a tactic used to great effect in 2020 by Jon Ossoff against then-Sen. David Perdue (R-GA). Ossoff went on to defeat Perdue in that contest in a double-barrel Senate election alongside Rev. Raphael Warnock, giving Democrats control of the Senate for the first time in six years.

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Ossoff hammered this point home in reaction to the news, posting a picture of himself debating Perdue's empty podium with the words, "SMART MOVE."

President Joe Biden originally agreed to two debates with Trump: one in June and one in August. The June debate in Atlanta was a disaster for the president, where his low-energy and confused performance convinced key supporters that he didn't have the fitness to run a successful campaign or serve another term, leading to mounting pressure within his own party that ultimately persuaded Biden to end his campaign for a second term and endorse Harris to replace him.

In response to the shakeup, the Trump campaign has wavered on its commitment to the September debate, saying in a statement that "it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds" about nominating her. On MSNBC Sunday, Trump strategist Jason Miller insisted the debate will move forward, but they now want to wait until Democrats formally nominate Harris before committing to the original schedule.