WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. JD Vance, the new Republican vice presidential nominee, have yet to agree on terms to participate in a debate, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Harris has agreed to a debate on CBS News on either July 23 or Aug. 13. Two months ago, former President Donald Trump agreed to those same dates, or one later in the calendar, on behalf of his then-unidentified running mate — but for a debate on Fox News, which Biden’s team has indicated it would reject.
The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations about the debate, said there had been no progress at bridging the disagreements on the network partner and format, but they expect discussions to begin now that Trump has selected Vance, a first-term senator from Ohio.
Harris, in her congratulatory voicemail to Vance on his selection, urged him to accept the CBS debate, according to one of the people familiar with the discussions.
Last month’s debate disaster for President Joe Biden, Saturday’s attempted assassination of Trump, and the ages of both men atop their respective tickets could raise the stakes for the running mates’ potential faceoff.
“Vice President Harris is prepared to debate JD Vance,” Biden campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo told reporters Monday after Vance was added to the GOP ticket. “We have accepted the proposal from CBS News — I think as folks are aware — to participate in that debate, and we feel very good.”
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told reporters on a Biden campaign call, “The V.P. will take it to JD Vance.”
“The debate is going to have two parts to it,” she continued. “It’s how strong our vice president is and how good her economic issues are. I’m looking forward to this debate.”
Trump had said he hoped Harris and his eventual running mate would meet at Virginia State University, which is where Fox proposed holding its event.
The university was originally scheduled to host a debate put on by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, and it would have been the first time a historically Black college or university hosted one.
Virginia’s two senators, Democrats Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, have urged the candidates to still hold a debate at the school.
CBS would host the debate in one of the network’s studios, which is the Biden team’s preference.
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AP writers Seung Min Kim and Michelle L. Price and Jill Colvin in Milwaukee contributed.
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