Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday declined to give a definitive answer when asked if President Joe Biden would debate former President Donald Trump before the 2024 election.
Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican front-runner, posted an offer to debate Biden on Wednesday afternoon. That was just hours after the last Republican challenger, Nikki Haley, suspended her campaign.
“It is important to our nation’s interests that Joe Biden and I discuss issues of vital importance to America and the American people,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Therefore, I am calling for a debate anytime, anywhere, anywhere! The debate could be run by the corrupt DNC or its subsidiary, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).”
ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce asked Harris if she would commit to discussing Biden as a possible rival, referring to President Trump’s challenge.
Biden targets Trump and Congressional Republicans in State of the Union address
Vice President Kamala said of the debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, “We’ll figure it out at some point and we’ll deal with it.” (Al Drago/Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Harris instead moved on to discuss Thursday night’s State of the Union address, arguing that Biden successfully described himself as “passionate” and “principled.”
After touting some of Biden’s accomplishments and promises, Harris said Biden offered Americans a “split screen” between her and Trump, calling the former “a person who actually believes in democracy.” ” character, characterizing the latter as someone who behaved like a dictator. . During his State of the Union address, Biden repeatedly referred to Trump in poignant terms as “my predecessor,” but never mentioned Trump by name.
“But given what you’re advocating here is at stake, would you take the opportunity to further demonstrate what voters saw last night to go head-to-head with Trump in a debate? ?” Bruce pressed.
“It’s going to get resolved eventually, and we’re going to deal with it,” Harris responded. “But the point is, right now, on this day after the State of the Union, I think the president has set the record straight for the American people in terms of what’s at stake. And I think he’s done an extraordinary job. I thought I did.”
FOX Exclusive: President Trump reacts to President Biden’s speech
President Joe Biden speaks during the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, March 7, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Immediately after Trump’s invitation, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler fired back.
“We know Donald Trump is hungry for attention and struggling to expand his appeal beyond MAGA, and it’s the right time in this cycle,” Tyler told Fox News Digital. We will discuss it later.” “But if you want to see President Biden in prime time, there’s no need to wait!”
“He can join tens of millions of Americans tomorrow night watching the State of the Union,” Tyler continued. “He might learn something about bringing people together and actually serving the American people.”
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) has unanimously voted to withdraw from the Committee on Presidential Debates (CPD) in 2022.
The RNC has made it clear that it is not distancing itself from the presidential debate format, but rather opposes CPD’s control of the debate process. CPD has been organizing presidential and vice presidential debates for more than 30 years.
FOX News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
