Kamala Harris reveals her thoughts about Trump's running mate search
Vice President Kamala Harris says Donald Trump's 'litmus test' for a running mate in the 2024 election is someone who displays absolute loyalty to the former president. While there remains nearly a dozen Republican politicians in the closely-watched Republican veepstakes, Harris only called out by name Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).
She also made clear in an interview with Politico Playbook published on Monday that she is prepared to debate Trump's VP pick this summer. 'I'm planning on being at the CBS studios … in either July or August,' the vice president said. 'And let's see if the other side shows up.'
She added: 'I'm ready to make the case — whoever he picks, no matter who it is.' CBS News proposed a debate for the vice presidential nominees for either July 23 or August 13. Trump accepted on behalf of his yet-to-be-announced running mate a Fox News invite to debate, which competes with the CBS proposal.
President Joe Biden's second in command said Trump won't want to pick someone like his previous vice president, Mike Pence, who was willing to question the actions and motives of the former president – especially when it came to accepting the outcome of the 2020 election and the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
'What we know is that Donald Trump wants an enabler,' Harris explained. 'He doesn't want a governing partner. He doesn't want another Mike Pence, and I think that is clear.' 'The litmus test is, are they going to be absolutely loyal to Trump over country or their oath of office, or, frankly, the American people?'
Among the seven confirmed to be on Trump's shortlist for his 2024 ticket are North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Sens. Tim Scott (S.C.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), and J.D. Vance (Ohio), Reps. Byron Donalds, Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), and his former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
Some speculate Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Kari Lake are also still under consideration, while South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem seemed to squash her chances at the title after revealing in a memoir earlier this year a story about shooting and killing her family's 14-month-old puppy Cricket two decades prior.
Speaking on the potential of Trump picking Rep. Donalds as his vice president, Harris called out the congressman's comments at a Philadelphia campaign event last week claiming black families in America were stronger during the Jim Crow era.
'It's sadly yet another example of somebody out of Florida trying to erase or rewrite our true history,' she said in reference to both Donalds recent comments and interventions made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on black history curricula. 'I went to Florida last July to call out what they were trying to do to replace our history with lies. And apparently, there's a never-ending flow of that coming out of that state,' she continued.