Harris, Trump to take part in dueling Univision town halls of Hispanic voters

WASHINGTON — There might not be another debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, but both will take part in separate televised town halls next month aimed at a Spanish-speaking audience.

Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, and Harris, the Democratic nominee, have agreed to participate in televised town halls of undecided Hispanic voters hosted by Univision, the largest provider of Spanish-speaking content in the U.S.

Trump's town hall will air 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from Miami. Harris' town hall will air 10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 from Las Vegas.

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Both town halls, anchored by Enrique Acevedo, will be televised with a Spanish-language translation on Univision and streamed on ViX, the network's streaming service. Questions will come from undecided Hispanic voters in the crowd.

"There are more than 36 million Hispanics eligible to vote in the U.S., making them the largest minority in the country, with the power to influence the outcome of the race for the White House and the future of the nation,” Daniel Coronell, president of Noticias Univision, said in a statement.

Harris leads Trump among Latino voters, 57%-39%, according to a recent national poll of registered Latino voters by the Pew Research Center. The margin is similar to the 2020 election in which President Joe Biden won Latino voters over Trump, 59%-38%.

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While Hispanic voters will be critical in the southwest swing states of Arizona and Nevada, they could also play a critical role in Pennsylvania, another battleground state, where the Harris campaign is working to turn out voters in the state's growing "Latino Belt."

Following the only presidential debate on Sept. 10, Harris is pushing for a second debate against Trump. The Harris campaign agreed to a debate hosted by CNN on Oct. 23 but Trump has said he won't debate again. "It's just too late – voting has already started," Trump said over the weekend, even though he took part in October debates in both 2016 and 2020.

Harris was widely credited with outperforming Trump in the earlier debate, hosted by ABC, putting Trump on defense and baiting him throughout their exchange.

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris, Trump agreed to separate Univision town halls