Kamala Harris turns her attention to JD Vance amid speculation about Biden’s future

By Priscilla Alvarez and MJ Lee, CNN

Washington (CNN) — Vice President Kamala Harris has spent much of the year traveling around the country, tackling the Republican party and its leader, former President Donald Trump. But now she’s throwing her political punches at another opponent: Sen. JD Vance.

Mounting concerns over President Joe Biden and his viability as a candidate have put an even brighter spotlight on Harris in recent weeks, as some allies and lawmakers float her name as a possible replacement to lead the party’s ticket. As panic and speculation spread across the Democratic Party following the June 27 debate, the vice president and her aides continued to keep an eye on who might be selected to serve as Trump’s vice president.

In the weeks leading up to Trump unveiling his running mate in Milwaukee, there were several men widely believed to be on the former president’s short list.

They monitored with great interest each of their Sunday show appearances, public remarks and other media interviews, with the expectation that one of them would likely face off against Harris on the debate stage this summer.

Harris’ team agreed: Vance would clearly be a tough debate opponent. The Ohioan appeared particularly skilled at deflecting questions about Trump’s past statements and policy positions. That ability is likely to be one of several key factors that will shape Harris’ debate preparations.

Democrats hope that Harris – who debated Biden during the 2020 Democratic primary and landed some of the most memorable punches on the now-president – will far outperform Vance. Biden’s disastrous showing against Trump last month has set off panic across the Democratic Party, and the president’s allies are scrambling to try to turn the page on the saga.

Biden’s halting debate showing stunned even some of his own top aides, and the president botching an opportunity to lay out a clear argument against Trump on the issue of reproductive rights was among the most puzzling and frustrating for Democrats tuning in.

“She will keep him and Trump on defense on abortion in a way that ideally Biden would’ve done in the debate,” one longtime Harris friend said.

Aides to Harris say that when it comes to two issues in particular – reproductive rights and Trump’s threat to democracy – Vance’s own record and past statements should only strengthen what they already see as the vice president’s most compelling arguments against the former president.

In preparing for Trump’s vice-presidential pick, Harris aides saw an opportunity in Vance, given his support of a federal ban on abortion. Harris has already been crisscrossing the country, attacking restrictions on abortions, and casting them as “Trump abortion bans.”

When asked if that would factor into how Harris makes her case against the Trump-Vance ticket, one source said: “Of course it will be. His record speaks for itself,” referring to Vance.

But, sources say, that Harris’ main target on the trail will continue to be Trump, while Vance serves as an example of what the former president wants to achieve in a second term.

“On the campaign trail, she’ll keep the focus on Trump and talk about Vance as how it reflects on Trump,” a campaign source told CNN. “This is telling about Trump’s true position on an abortion ban. You can expect her to make that case,” the source added, referring to Trump’s waffling on an abortion ban.

Harris previewed that message during a campaign stop in North Carolina on Thursday.

The vice president argued that Trump’s VP pick is a distraction from his extreme agenda that Americans “are not falling for.”

“With the selection of his running mate this week, Donald Trump is also trying to distract people. He wants to direct attention away from his record and his project 2025 plan to suggest that he and his running mate are going to prioritize the middle class,” Harris said.

In a brief call Tuesday, Harris and Vance said they looked forward to debating one another but didn’t discuss specifics about when that would happen, according to two sources familiar with the call. The Trump campaign has declined to commit to a date, as they point to the chaos unfolding in the other political party.

“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,” Trump spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement to CNN.

The Biden campaign hit back Wednesday, saying: “This debate has been discussed for two months now. If JD Vance is unwilling to defend the Trump-Vance record on the debate stage, he should just say so.”

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