WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said late Friday that he had agreed to debate his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, on Fox News on September 4.
“I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
It was not immediately clear if Harris had agreed to the debate.
Trump’s post came hours after the vice president had secured the Democratic Party’s nomination as standard bearer in the November presidential election.
Trump’s White House bid was turned upside down last month when 81-year-old President Joe Biden, facing growing concerns about his age and lagging polling numbers, abandoned his re-election bid and backed Harris.
His decision to bow out followed a disastrous debate performance against Trump in June on CNN.
A second Trump-Biden debate had been slated for September 10 on ABC.
That was expected to go ahead as planned, with Harris replacing Biden, but a spokesman for Trump last week said it would be “inappropriate” to schedule a debate before Harris was formally the Democratic nominee.
The 78-year-old Republican nominee had previously said he would not debate Harris, who is nearly two decades his junior, departing from political tradition.
The former prosecutor and ex-California attorney general last month dared Trump to debate her face-to-face.
“Well Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage, because as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face,” Harris said at a campaign rally in Atlanta.
In his post, Trump said the debate will be held in Pennsylvania, and moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum in front of a full audience.
Fox News confirmed that the debate would have “spectators” and follow similar rules to the June 27 CNN debate between Trump and Biden.
The news channel said it had invited Trump and Harris to participate in a debate in Pennsylvania in September.
“I look forward to meeting and debating Kamala Harris on September 4th,” Trump said, adding the date was “convenient and appropriate” as it comes just before the September 6 start of early voting for the presidential election.
Trump agrees to Fox News debate with Harris on Sept 4
https://arab.news/8cfe4
Trump agrees to Fox News debate with Harris on Sept 4
Bondi Beach attack hero says wanted to protect ‘innocent people’
DUBAI: Bondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed Al Ahmed recalled the moment he ran toward one of the attackers and wrenched his shotgun away, saying the only thing he had in mind was to stop the assailant from “killing more innocent people.”
Al-Ahmad’s heroism was widely acclaimed in Australia when he tackled and disarmed gunman Sajid Akram who fired at Jewish people attending a Hanukkah event on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens.
“My target was just to take the gun from him, and to stop him from killing a human being’s life and not killing innocent people,” he told CBS News in an interview on Monday.
“I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the lost.”
In footage viewed by millions of people, Al Ahmed was seen ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded, then wresting a gun from one of the assailants.
He was shot several times in the shoulder as a result and underwent several rounds of surgery.
“I jumped in his back, hit him and … hold him with my right hand and start to say a word like, you know, to warn him, ‘Drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing’,” Al Ahmed said.
“I don’t want to see people killed in front of me, I don’t want to see blood, I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help,” Al Ahmed told the television network.
“That’s my soul asked me to do that, and everything in my heart, and my brain, everything just worked, you know, to manage and to save the people’s life,” he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Ahmed al Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero for tackling one of the gunmen behind an antisemitic attack on Australia's Bondi Beach earlier this month, is speaking out in the aftermath of the massacre.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 28, 2025
"I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry still for the lost." pic.twitter.com/gFUfJvv7c6
Al Ahmed was at the beach getting a cup of coffee when the shooting occurred.
He is a father of two who emigrated to Australia from Syria in 2007, and works as a fruit seller.
Local media reported that the Australian government has fast-tracked and granted a number of visas for Al Ahmed’s family following his act of bravery.
“Ahmed has shown the courage and values we want in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in custody on charges including terrorism and 15 murders, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.
(with AFP)
