MILWAUKEE — President Donald Trump’s campaign has pivoted to planning for the possibility that Vice President Kamala Harris could assume the Democratic nomination if President Biden withdraws.
Trump adviser Brian Hughes first revealed the change in plans on Wednesday, saying that Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), would not agree to a vice presidential debate with Harris until after the Democratic National Convention in August because it was unclear who would be at the top of the Democratic shortlist.
“Because we don’t know who the Democratic vice presidential nominee will be, we cannot confirm a date before the convention. Doing so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris selects as her running mate,” Hughes said in a statement.
A Trump campaign adviser on Thursday doubled down on the campaign’s view that Biden, who is facing growing calls to give up on reelection following his dismal debate performances and dismal poll numbers, will back down.
“After three weeks, the Democrats still can’t decide whether Biden should seek reelection. You saw the statement yesterday. Why should they even accept an invitation to a vice presidential debate when they can’t even decide that Kamala Harris is actually their running mate?” the Trump adviser said.
The adviser later argued that Harris was a “co-pilot for Biden’s vision” and that having her as the Democratic nominee would be a “good thing” for Trump because it would show “disorganization” in the party.
“The Democratic Party’s mess is obvious for all to see. Is it helpful? We’re campaigning to save America. What Democrats can’t do is campaign on the Biden-Harris record, which is the Biden-Harris record. This is a huge mistake. They’re presenting it as a one-two punch,” the adviser said.
“She is a co-pilot of the Biden vision. So what if they want to switch to Biden 2.0 and put Kamala at the top of the list of nominees? We’ll be OK either way. What the American people see in the Biden-Harris Democrats is chaos within their own party, which reflects the chaos they’ve caused this country for three and a half years and their foreign policy chaos around the world.”
In an interview published on Wednesday, Biden said he would withdraw from the election if his doctors diagnosed him with a “health issue.”
Biden’s campaign maintains it is not considering the possibility that the president may not be the top contender.
