The Trump campaign said it would not schedule a vice presidential debate before the Democratic National Convention (DNC) due to uncertainty about who the Democratic vice presidential nominee would be.
Former President Donald Trump on Monday announced Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate.
Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, wrote in a statement that scheduling the vice presidential debate before the Democratic National Convention in August would be “unfair” to people like Governors Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.), J.B. Pritzker (D-Ill.), Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Newsom, Pritzker, Whitmer and Harris are among those being mentioned as possible Democratic candidates to succeed President Joe Biden.
“Because we don’t know who the Democratic vice presidential nominee will be, we can’t lock in a date before the convention,” Hughes said. “Doing so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer or whoever Kamala Harris chooses as her running mate.”
NEW: Trump campaign responds to vice presidential debate.
“Because we don’t know who the Democratic vice presidential nominee will be, we cannot lock in a date before the convention. Doing so would be unfair to anyone, like Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer or Kamala Brown.”
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 17, 2024
Calls to replace Biden in the presidential race have faded somewhat following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, but Biden is facing growing pressure from Democrats and donors to withdraw from the race following his lackluster performance in the June 27 debate.
What was that? After a week of rest and preparation, Biden coughs, stumbles and rambles his way through debate
Several Democrats, including Rep. Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Sen. Peter Welch (Vermont), Rep. Raul Grijalva (Arizona), Rep. Angie Craigs (Minn.), Rep. Scott Peters (California) and Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez (Washington), have called on Biden to “step away” from the presidential race.
More recently, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) called for Biden to “pass the baton.”
Several Hollywood donors have also called on Biden to withdraw from the race, with some threatening to freeze their funds if Biden continues in the campaign.
