Hot off the heels of Wednesday’s flurry of debate activity, Vice President Kamala Harris has agreed to participate in a debate hosted by CBS News with the as-of-yet unannounced person former President Donald Trump is set to pick as his number two, Biden’s reelection campaign announced on Thursday.
Harris, the campaign said, is willing to take part in a debate on either July 23 or August 13 in studio.
“The Biden-Harris campaign has informed CBS News that we accept the network’s invitation to participate in a Vice Presidential debate, in studio, on either of two dates,” the campaign said in a statement.
Trump has yet to name a person to join him on the Republican ticket this November. The former president has suggested he could name his pick around the Republican National Convention, set to begin in Milwaukee on July 15.
Several figures considered to be on Trump’s vice presidential shortlist have made appearances at his New York hush money criminal trial over the last few weeks, which the former president is required to attend.
“The debate would be in accordance with the guidelines put forth by the campaign yesterday,” the Biden campaign said in a statement. “We look forward to the Trump campaign accepting one of these dates so that the full debate calendar for this campaign can be set.”
Trump’s campaign has not yet commented on the VP debate. Trump himself said in an interview with Spectrum News last month that he will name his running mate “probably sometime around” July’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
In a subsequent interview, Trump said that the “most important thing” in a potential running mate pick is if they’ll be “a good president.”
“Because if something should happen, you know, it’s such an important, such an important position,” Trump said, adding: “If something should happen to me, when something happens to me, which can happen, you have to make sure that somebody really good is in there to take your place, so that’s always got to be the number one criteria.”
The second most important factor, Trump noted, is if they can help him win votes.
“Traditionally, however, and you know this probably better than I do, VPs have never really helped in the election process,” Trump added. “It’s a one-day story, it’s a big story, and then it’s back to work. They want to really know who’s No. 1 on the ticket. The VP, I don’t know if any time where VP has greatly enhanced, greatly helped somebody get elected. They just don’t. It surprises me actually, because you would think they would, but they just don’t.”
President Joe Biden on Wednesday morning stunned the political world when he announced he would not participate in debates sponsored by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, instead challenging his rival, former President Donald Trump, to two debates earlier in the year.
Trump, who skipped all of the debates in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, responded on his Truth Social platform that he is “Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September.”
Shortly after the back-and-forth between the current leader of the free world and his predecessor, CNN announced it would be holding the first debate on June 27 at its Atlanta studios. Trump and Biden both said later Wednesday they accepted an invitation to a debate on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC News.
Spectrum News’ Justin Tasolides, Ryan Chatelain, Anthony DaBruzzi and Taylor Popielarz contributed to this report.
Spectrum News Staff
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