Trump campaign refuses to commit to a VP debate before August's Democratic convention

Former President Donald Trump's campaign said Wednesday that it won’t agree to proposed dates for a vice presidential debate until at least the Democratic National Convention, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 19.

Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, signaled that it wouldn’t make sense to solidify a debate date yet for the vice presidential contenders because of the still growing group of Democrats calling on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race. He suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris could ultimately be named the party’s presidential nominee.

“We don’t know who the Democrat nominee for Vice President is going to be, so we can’t lock in a date before their convention. To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate,” Hughes said, citing the Democratic governors of California, Illinois and Michigan.

In mid-May, Harris accepted an invitation from CBS News to debate on either July 23 or Aug. 13. A Biden campaign official said Wednesday that CBS has since offered, and Harris accepted, another potential date of Aug. 12. The Trump campaign had not agreed to the CBS debate, but it did agree to a vice presidential debate hosted by Fox News.

The decision by the Trump campaign comes two days after the former president named Sen. JD Vance of Ohio to be his running mate. Vance is set to accept the Republican nomination for vice president Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Harris' team lashed out at the Trump campaign Wednesday, with her communications director, Brian Fallon, saying Trump was the one whose campaign said he would debate "anytime, any place."

“Now suddenly right after a