President Biden’s campaign put forward two proposed dates for a vice presidential debate Thursday, one day after agreeing to two face-to-face confrontations with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Brian Fallon, a spokesman for VP Kamala Harris, said the Democrat’s re-election campaign had agreed with CBS News to put Harris up for an in-studio debate either Tuesday, July 23, or Tuesday, Aug. 13.
Fallon added that if the debate goes ahead, it would take place “in accordance with the guidelines put forth” for the presidential debates by the Biden campaign, including no live audience or third-party candidates, and microphones that automatically cut off when a candidate’s speaking time is up.
Trump’s campaign had yet to respond to Biden’s proposal as of midday Thursday.
The 45th president, 77, has yet to announce his running mate pick, but has said he will do so ahead of the Republican National Convention, set for July 15-18 in Milwaukee.
Trump and Biden have tentatively agreed to debates hosted by CNN, on June 27, and ABC News on Sept. 10 following rapid-fire, public negotiations that played out Wednesday morning.
Trump, 77, and Biden, 81, have been circling each other for weeks after the incumbent told radio host Howard Stern April 26 he would debate his GOP rival at some point during the campaign.
Trump had responded by taunting Biden to debate right away, even in front of the Manhattan courthouse where the former president’s “hush money” trial is ongoing.
On Wednesday, the Biden camp released a video challenging Trump to debates along with a letter notifying the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates it was being cut out of the process it has overseen since the 1988 election.
The CNN debate, which will take place at the network’s headquarters in Atlanta, will be moderated by “State of the Union” co-hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
Details about the September ABC News debate, including location and moderators, were not immediately available.
Trump campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita fired off their own letter to the Biden camp insisting that four debates take place between June and September, while the candidate himself said he had signed up for a third debate, to be hosted by Fox News on Oct. 2 and moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
The Biden team shot down that offer, with campaign chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon saying in a statement that “President Biden made his terms clear for two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump accepted those terms.
“No more games. No more chaos, no more debate about debates,” added O’Malley Dillon. “We’ll see Donald Trump on June 27th in Atlanta – if he shows up.”
