Trump Campaign Highlights Dem Discord in Response to VP Debate Question
WASHINGTON — Hours after word that Vice President Kamala Harris has agreed to three possible dates for a debate against Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, the Trump campaign threw shade on the whole affair.
“We don’t know who the Democrat nominee for vice president is going to be, so we can’t lock in a date before their convention,” said Trump campaign senior advisor Brian Hughes in a written statement.
“To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, J.B. Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate,” he added.
The response, of course, was a nod to calls from Democrats for President Joe Biden to end his bid for a second term following his less-than-stellar performance at the CNN presidential debate last month in Atlanta, Georgia.
The widespread hand wringing simmered down after the shooting this weekend at a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania and with the start of the Republican National Convention on Monday.
But it was reignited Wednesday after Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., now running for the U.S. Senate, told the Los Angeles Times that he believes it’s time for Biden to “pass the torch” to the next generation of Democratic leaders.
Schiff described Biden as “one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history,” and said the president’s “lifetime of service as a senator, a vice president, and now as president has made our country better.”
“But our nation is at a crossroads,” said the lawmaker, who gained a national reputation as lead prosecutor of Trump’s first impeachment trial. “A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November.”
Schiff said whoever winds up leading the Democratic ticket — whether it remains Biden or another candidate — he will do whatever it takes to help them win.
Biden has repeatedly said that he plans to remain in the race, and has been on the campaign trail since Tuesday.
To date more than a dozen Democratic House members and one senator have publicly urged the president not to run.
As for the vice-presidential debate, which CBS News is planning to host, a Biden campaign official said Wednesday that Vice President Harris “accepted the very first invitation we received from a television network to host a vice-presidential debate” on May 16.
“She agreed at that time to participate in a CBS-hosted debate on either Tuesday, July 23, or Tuesday, Aug. 13,” the official said. “Since then, CBS has offered — and the VP has accepted — another potential date for this debate: Monday, Aug. 12.”
“Now that the Trump campaign has selected a running mate, we encourage them to agree to a debate between Vice President Harris and Sen. Vance,” the official said.
Harris left a congratulatory voicemail for Vance after his selection as Trump’s vice-presidential nominee on Monday, and reportedly urged him to accept the CBS debate.
Vance called her back, and on Tuesday, during an interview with Newsmax at the RNC convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, said Harris was “very gracious” and “very cordial.”
“Obviously, we want to debate Vice President Harris because it’s important for the American people to see the contrast,” Vance said during the same interview.
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