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JEFFERSON CITY — Attorney General Eric Schmitt claimed Tuesday that Trudy Busch Valentine, his Democratic opponent for U.S. Senate, had refused a televised debate on Nexstar stations in advance of the Nov. 8 election.

But the vice president of news for KTVI-TV (Channel 2) and KPLR-TV (Channel 11), owned by Nexstar, quickly refuted the attorney general, saying debate organizers had received no response from Valentine.

“She has not accepted or declined,� said Audrey Prywitch, the VP of news for the stations, on Tuesday.

“As usual, what Eric Schmitt is saying is nonsense,� said Jacob Long, spokesman for Valentine’s campaign, in a statement. “We’ve received a number of debate invitations and are actively reviewing all of them. That includes ongoing discussions with other potential debate hosts in which he has not yet accepted.

“We fully expect and look forward to an opportunity to debate Eric Schmitt on the issues that matter most to Missourians,� Long said. “To date, we’ve rejected no debate invitations.�

Schmitt’s statement to the contrary appeared on Twitter shortly before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. His campaign said he had accepted the Nexstar invitation and that Valentine had rejected it.

“Missourians will not be surprised that The Heiress Valentine is refusing to debate because they know her extreme positions only connect with a small inner circle of liberal elites, and not Missouri families statewide who are struggling under the disastrous Biden-Schumer economic policies she supports,� Schmitt said.

The Post-Dispatch had asked both campaigns earlier Tuesday about debate plans headed into the fall. Schmitt’s campaign didn’t respond until a spokesman directed a reporter to the tweet late Tuesday.

Long said earlier Tuesday that Valentine’s campaign had “received several invitations to participate in debates or forums and we are continuing to actively consider all of those invitations and possible debates.�

During the primary, both Valentine and Schmitt avoided statewide televised debates.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, one of Schmitt’s rivals in the GOP primary, said the attorney general was “in hiding� after Nexstar called off a debate after officials “could not secure the participation of all the key candidates,� Prywitch said at the time.

Schmitt’s spokesman said then that Schmitt took part in two debates at Republican gatherings during the primary, but Hartzler’s spokesman described the events as forums, not debates.

Schmitt’s spokesman suggested then that Schmitt didn’t appear at the debate because former Gov. Eric Greitens, another GOP contender for the nomination, wouldn’t.

Lucas Kunce, Valentine’s main opponent in the Democratic primary, blasted her for not responding to a debate invitation by Gray TV, which owns KMOV (Channel 4) in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, ahead of the Aug. 2 primary.