Vice President Kamala Harris declined to commit to debating former President Donald Trump’s eventual running mate.
In a Friday interview with NBC News, Harris avoided directly addressing the question of a vice-presidential debate.
“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 avoidance of the question is not uncommon. The issue of whether anyone from the White House will engage in direct debates with the Trump campaign this autumn has remained unanswered for some time.
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The state of President Biden’s health and mental acuity has been an ongoing concern for both Republicans and Democrats. Presidential debates are typically regarded as opportunities to evaluate candidates’ capacity to think quickly and communicate effectively under pressure.
Similarly, Harris declined to provide a direct response on Friday when questioned about whether Biden would engage in a debate with Trump himself ahead of the 2024 election.
Trump, who is the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination, made his offer to debate Biden public on Wednesday afternoon. This announcement came shortly after Nikki Haley, his final GOP challenger, suspended her campaign.
When ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce raised Trump’s challenge during an interview, Harris shifted the conversation to Thursday night’s State of the Union address.
She emphasized that Biden had effectively conveyed himself as “passionate” and “principled” during the speech.
“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.”