The Democratic National Committee plans to greet former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Monday with billboards declaring him a “chicken” for declining to debate Vice President Kamala Harris a second time.
Ms. Harris agreed to debate on CNN on Oct. 23, but Mr. Trump said it is too late in the electoral calendar to meet again. They debated once, on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia.
The mobile billboards, which are large signs on trucks, feature Mr. Trump in a chicken costume. They will be placed outside Mr. Trump’s rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and around town.
“It wasn’t so long ago that Donald Trump boasted he’d debate ‘anytime, anywhere,’ but after Vice President Kamala Harris held him to account for his failures as president and dangerous second term agenda in their first debate, it’s no surprise Trump’s turned chicken — too scared to face the music again,” DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman said.
Many pundits declared Ms. Harris the winner of the first debate, saying she baited the former president into side issues such as his crowd sizes and baseless claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.
Mr. Trump said the ABC moderators were against him and that he was the true winner. He quickly said he was done debating.
Over the weekend, Mr. Trump said he did two debates — the first was against President Biden, whose poor performance knocked him off the Democratic ticket — and there was no point in debating Ms. Harris after many people cast their ballots in early voting.
“She’s done one debate,” Mr. Trump said at a Wilmington, North Carolina, rally. “I’ve done two. It’s too late to do another. I’d love to, in many ways, but it’s too late. The voting is cast.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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