If presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris refuses to accept former President Donald Trump's challenge to face off against him in a Fox News debate in front of an arena audience, then "she's the one who is afraid to debate," Trump's running mate J.D. Vance said in an interview Saturday.
“I think it's great," the Ohio Republican senator told Sirius XM's "Breitbart News Saturday." "In some ways, it's a masterstroke because of course the Kamala campaign has been saying for a long time that President Trump is afraid to debate Kamala Harris, which of course is absurd because the last time he debated their nominee, that nominee withdrew two weeks later."
Trump said Friday he has agreed with Fox News to debate Harris on Sept. 4, and wants the event to be held before an arena audience.
The Harris campaign has denied that an agreement is in place and said it will stick with the terms for a Sept. 10 debate that was negotiated with the Biden campaign before the President dropped his bid for reelection.
Vance said Saturday that Harris is "incredibly bad if she's not scripted," but Trump "feeds off of human beings which is natural and normal for a political leader."
And having a crowd for a debate is "really important because it will show his natural leadership ability," Vance said. "Hopefully it happens and hopefully Kamala Harris agrees to it."
He added that her refusal to debate "goes to show that she's terrified of explaining what her actual beliefs are" because "I don't know that she actually has beliefs."
The media must also push Harris for answers, said Vance.
"I do these interviews," he said. "I answer questions. I try to explain to the American people why I believe what I believe. That is the job of a person who wants to lead this nation. It's shameful that Kamala Harris is running not just from the media, but from our own citizens."
Harris's policies also "failed by design" when it comes to the border.
"She suspended deportations on day one," he said. "They stopped construction of the border wall ... of course, the Kamala Harris administration prevents that from happening."
It was Harris' job as "border czar" to coordinate the efforts of the government and ensure that law enforcement got what they needed to do their job at the border, Vance said.
"These guys said they wanted an open border," he said. "They implemented policies on day one to achieve an open border, and the American people have had to live with the disastrous consequences. We can't let them forget that, and we can't reward them with another four-year term."
Vance also commented on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's announcement Friday that he was overriding a plea agreement that had been reached for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsaw, and was reinstating them as death penalty cases.
"Why did the Department of Justice enter this plea deal if the Secretary of Defense was going to nullify it?" he said. "This is something where you need a president who sits on top of all these departments who's actually coordinating some of those significant decisions of our government."
The rapid change also "reinforces" that "no one's actually in charge of the United States government right now," said Vance.
"President Biden clearly isn't capable," he said. "Who, who is doing this? I mean, I guess maybe Kamala Harris. And it's telling that they were going to move forward with this until the political consequences became pretty obvious."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.