Former President Donald Trump’s campaign on Thursday night signaled it will not commit to a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris until she becomes the formal Democratic nominee for president.
“I would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds.”
On Friday morning, former President Obama endorsed Ms. Harris for president.
President Joe Biden, the vast majority of congressional Democrats, and all the congressional Democratic Party leaders including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have endorsed Ms. Harris for president. However, she will not be the party’s nominee until Democrat delegates vote virtually for their party’s nominee on Aug. 7.
Ms. Harris on Monday night, less than 48 hours after President Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidential race, secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to be named her party’s 2024 presidential nominee.
In May, President Biden and former President Trump, who is now the Republican Party’s nominee for president, agreed to hold two debates before the November election. One was held on CNN in June, and the other, an ABC News-hosted debate, was set for Sept. 10.
The 2024 campaign season has revealed the power of debates. The first debate, hosted by CNN and held in late June, sparked calls from media pundits and a number of Democrat lawmakers for President Biden to leave the race.
Initially, President Biden rebuffed those calls and said he was still running for president before making his announcement on Sunday and endorsing his vice president to become the nominee.
Former President Trump has said on social media that he would prefer to have the debate on Fox News but that he would be willing to face off with Ms. Harris more than once.
The former president told reporters earlier this week that he wants to debate Ms. Harris but has not yet agreed to anything.
“We are open to discussion on the exact date, format and location—with or without an audience,” Fox News President Jay Wallace and Vice President Jessica Loker wrote in a letter to the two campaigns.
The debate would be moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, the letter proposed. The Harris campaign has not publicly responded to the debate proposal.
Responding to questions about a Trump debate on Thursday, Ms. Harris did not say whether she would take up the Fox News offer, accusing the former president of backtracking on previous commitments to hold a debate with President Biden.
“I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on the debate stage,” she told reporters after landing at Joint Base Andrews, adding she is “ready to debate” former President Trump.
Months before President Biden dropped out, Ms. Harris and the Trump campaign had agreed to a CBS News debate with the Republican vice presidential nominee on July 23 or Aug. 23, the Biden campaign had said. That also came before Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) was named the GOP’s vice presidential nominee.
The status of the vice presidential debate is currently unclear, and the Harris campaign has not named her running mate yet.
Earlier this week, Mr. Vance told reporters at an event in Ohio that he’s unsure of the debate plans.
“I was told I was going to get to debate Kamala Harris, and now, President Trump is going to get to debate her?” he said at the event, noting his disappointment.
