Kamala Harris challenges Vance to debate in congratulatory voicemail message

MILWAUKEE — Vice President Kamala Harris has already accepted a debate against Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) just hours after the Ohio senator was tapped as former President Donald Trump’s running mate and nominated as the party’s vice presidential nominee during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Harris called Vance shortly after Trump tapped him as his running mate, but the two did not speak, according to a source familiar. Rather, Harris left a message to “congratulate him on his selection, welcome him to the race, and express her hope that the two can meet” in the debate.

Harris and the Biden campaign previously accepted a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News earlier this year, which is expected to take place later this summer.

Several Democratic lawmakers close to the Biden campaign expressed confidence in Harris’s ability to face Vance onstage, lauding the vice president’s experience in the Senate and White House as she prepares to debate policy.

“The VP will take it to J.D. Vance,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told reporters on a campaign call shortly after Vance’s nomination was announced. “I’m looking forward to this debate.”

Vance has not yet publicly accepted an invite to debate Harris, but the Ohio Republican indicated to the Washington Examiner in May he would not hesitate to meet with her.

“You know, I’ll do whatever I need to to serve, but I’m very nervous about debating the vice president,” Vance quipped in a sarcastic tone. “She’s very eloquent.”

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Republicans were quick to praise Trump’s decision to tap Vance as his No. 2, lauding the junior senator from Ohio as a step into the party’s future. Several RNC delegates at the convention celebrated Vance as the mark of a “new generation of leadership for the Republican Party,” with one Republican consultant noting that Vance, as the “heir apparent,” will strengthen the GOP presidential ticket in 2028.

Meanwhile, Harris must grapple with questions about her own ticket as Democratic lawmakers have considered whether President Joe Biden should be removed from the ticket. Harris sits with an average approval rating of 38.5%, which could also hurt her if she goes head to head against Vance.