Trump says he won't debate Harris again before election day

RepublicannomineeDonaldTrumpsaid on Thursday he would not participate in another presidentialdebateagainst Kamala Harris ahead of the U.S. Nov. 5 election, afterseveral polls showed his Democratic rival won theirdebateearlier this week.

"THERE WILL BE NO THIRDDEBATE!" the former president wrote on his social media site TruthSocial.

AlthoughTrumptouted his performance on Tuesday against Harris, six Republican donors and threeTrumpadvisers who spoke to Reuters earlier this weeksaid they thought Harris had won thedebatelargely becauseTrumpwas unable to stay on message.

Thedebateattracted more than 67 million television viewers, according to early Nielsen data.

Harris, speaking at a rally shortly afterTrump's post went live, said: "I believe we owe it to the voters to have anotherdebate." In an earlier show of confidence, her campaign challenged Trump to a second debate almost immediately after Tuesday's showdown was over.

WhileTrumpsaid in his post that polls showed he won thedebate, several surveys showed that respondents thought Harris did better.

Among voters who said they had heard at least something about Tuesday'sdebate, 53 per cent said Harris won and 24 per cent saidTrumpwon, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.

WATCH | Trump says he won't debate Harris a 2nd time:

Trump declines to debate Harris again as polls show dead heat

9 days ago

Duration 2:03

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says another debate with his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris will not happen, as polls show them in a virtual tie in the race for the White House.

The poll showed that 54 per centof registered voters believed that the singledebatebetweenTrumpand Harris was enough, while 46 per cent had wanted a seconddebate.

A majority ofdebatewatchers said Harris outperformedTrump, according to a CNN flash poll released shortly after thedebate. YouGov showed 54 per cent of those surveyed said Harris won while 31 per centsaidTrumpwas the victor.

Trumphad participatedin adebateagainst President Joe Biden in June before hisdebateagainstHarris on Tuesday. Biden's halting performance overshadowed Trump's litany of falsehoods during that meeting, which led to internal party pressure and Biden's dropping from the race on July 21.