Vance ‘pissed off’ he won’t get to debate Harris 

The Republican VP nominee made the tongue-in-cheek remark after US President Joe Biden endorsed her candidacy

Republican vice-presidential nominee Senator J.D. Vance has quipped that he’s frustrated he will not get to debate US Vice President Kamala Harris, as she is now poised to replace the incumbent Joe Biden as the Democratic Party nominee for the upcoming November election.

Vance was speaking at a Middletown, Ohio, rally on Monday a day after Biden dropped out of the presidential race.

“I was told I was going to debate Kamala Harris,” Vance said with a smile. “And now President Trump is going to get to debate her? I’m kind of pissed off about that, if I’m being honest with you.”

Biden announced on Sunday that he won’t seek re-election and will focus solely on fulfilling his duties as president for the remainder of his term. The announcement followed weeks of pressure to step aside over concerns regarding his mental and physical state less than a month before the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to start in Chicago. 

Addressing voters at his old high school in Middletown, Trump’s running mate accused Harris and other “elite Democrats” of lying to the public about Biden’s fitness for office over the past three years, as well as his ability to run a winning campaign.

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“Every single person who saw Joe Biden knew he wasn’t capable of doing the job, and for three years they said nothing until he became political deadweight,” Vance said. “That is not a way to run a country. That is not a way to run a political party. That is an insult to voters.”

Harris said on Sunday that she intends to “earn and win” the presidential nomination at the DNC. According to media reports, Democrats view a debate between Harris and Trump as a way to redeem the party after Biden’s disastrous performance in the June debate against the Republican frontrunner.

Influential Democrats such as former US President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi all reportedly shared concerns for weeks over Biden’s ability to beat Trump and get reelected in November. According to NBC, Pelosi was instrumental in nudging Biden to step aside.

Before Biden exited the race, Harris had accepted a CBS debate invitation for either July 23 or August 13, NBC reported. The Trump campaign had agreed to a Fox News-televised debate as opposed to a CBS one and the terms of the debate between the two have not been finalized.