Kamala Harris agrees to participate in vice presidential debate with former President Donald Trump's previously unnamed running mate, just one day after Trump and President Joe Biden agreed to two showdowns did.
The Biden-Harris campaign announced Thursday that it had accepted an invitation from CBS News to participate in the vice presidential debate on either July 23 or August 13.
This comes after Biden and Trump agreed to compete against each other in two presidential debates hosted by CNN and ABC News on June 27 and September 10.
If the vice presidential debate is held on July 23, it would be immediately after the Republican National Convention. Trump has said he may announce his running mate around the time of his party's convention.
“I'm not in a hurry, I'll probably do it around the convention, but there's a lot of great talent in the Republican Party,” he told WPVI in April.
Among those believed to be vying for the vice presidential spot are North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. These include Congressman Tim Scott.
“We have informed CBS News that we will accept the network's invitation to participate in the in-studio vice presidential debate on one of two dates,” the Biden-Harris campaign said in a statement.
“We look forward to the Trump campaign accepting one of these dates and establishing the campaign's full debate calendar,” the campaign added.
Vice presidential debates are supposed to follow the same rules as presidential contests. That means there is no in-person audience, answers are timed, speaking opportunities are alternated between candidates, and candidates' microphones are used. It turns on only when it's your turn.
As with presidential debates, the proposed dates are much earlier than in previous campaigns. For example, Harris was sworn in by then-Vice President Mike Pence on October 7, 2020.