Vice President Kamala Harris will not commit to debating former President Donald Trump’s eventual running mate.
Harris dodged the question of a vice-presidential debate during a Friday interview with NBC News.
‘We just got through the State of the Union. And I’m just so excited about what we accomplished last night and our president,’ Harris told NBC.
The vice-president’s evasion of the question is far from unique — the question of whether anyone in the White House will go toe-to-toe with the Trump campaign this fall has been a long-unanswered question.
The question of President Biden’s health and mental fitness has been a long-standing concern of both Republicans and Democrats. A presidential debate is traditionally seen as an opportunity to assess candidates’ ability to think on their feet and speak under pressure.
Harris similarly refused to give a straight answer on Friday when asked whether Biden would debate Trump himself before the 2024 election.
Trump, the 2024 GOP frontrunner and presumptive nominee, posted his offer to debate Biden on Wednesday afternoon — just hours after his final GOP challenger Nikki Haley suspended her campaign.
Referencing Trump’s challenge, ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce asked Harris whether Biden would commit to debating his likely rival.
Harris instead pivoted to a discussion of Thursday night’s State of the Union address and claimed that Biden had successfully portrayed himself as ‘passionate’ and ‘principled.’
‘But given what you argue is at stake here, will you take the chance to show voters more of what they saw last night to take on Trump directly in debates?’ Bruce pressed.
‘We’ll get to that at some point, and we’ll deal with that,’ Harris replied. ‘But the point is, right now, on this day after the State of the Union, I think the president laid down the facts for the American people in terms of what’s at stake. And I thought he did an extraordinary job.’
Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
