Warner: 'We still owe Virginia State a visit' from Harris after debate schedule collapse

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Thursday he was seeing momentum build behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for the White House, and he thinks that one way to keep that momentum going is to make up for potential history being lost after the presidential debate schedule was scuttled earlier this year.

“We still owe Virginia State (University) a visit by the vice president or a debate venue, or at least a vice-presidential debate,” Warner, D-Virginia, said in a Zoom call with The Progress-Index and other Virginia news outlets. “I’m going to make sure we stay on the campaign and make sure we either get a visit or a debate still honored at VSU.”

Virginia State University was on the precipice of making history last year when it was chosen by the Commission on Presidential Debates to host the second of three faceoffs between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump. That Oct. 1 appearance would have made Virginia State the first historically Black college and university [HBCU] to host such a forum.

Those plans were shattered last May when Biden and the Democrats would not accept the commission’s schedule, opting instead for two televised debates with Trump. Biden’s poor performance in that first debate last month in Atlanta triggered discussions questioning his physical and mental capacities, and ultimately led to his withdrawal from the race.

Warner, colleague Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Virginia, have all vowed to get the Democratic ticket to Ettrick before the election as a consolation for losing the debate. The position of Harris at the top of the ticket – she graduated from fellow HBCU school Howard University in 1986 – has re-intensified calls for her to campaign at VSU before the Nov. 5 election.

Platitudes for Biden

Warner, who was reportedly one of the first Democratic legislators to question Biden’s competence following the debate, spoke highly of the president’s speech Wednesday night from the Oval Office.

Biden, Warner said, “showed himself as a real American patriot” in the 11-minute speech.

“Putting the country first, recognizing his literally multiple decades of service to the nation,” Warner said, “but realizing it’s time to pass the torch. I’m grateful for the president’s selfless decision.”

Asked about a possible recharge in excitement for the Harris-led ticket, Warner said he thinks it is “sinking in” the choice voters have between Harris and Trump.

“We’ve got Donald Trump who said he’d be a new guy, and that lasted maybe 20 minutes at the Republican convention before he went back into the old, frankly demeaning of our country.”

Endorse her ‘all along the way’

He called Trump out for comments the former president made on his social media and at a North Carolina where he called Harris “Lyin’ Kamala,” “stupid” and “a lunatic.”

Saying Trump’s vision was “dark and destructive,” Warner questioned why the former president would want to step back into the political spotlight.

“I saw some clips in the last day or so where he’s called America a ‘stupid country,’” Warner said. “How do you aspire to lead a nation when you make those kinds of comments?”

Warner said he knows Harris “very well” both socially and professionally from her time on the Senate Intelligence Committee that Warner chairs. In private discussions with her, he said Harris “did her homework” on topics the committee tackled.

“She goes into this task as running for president, I know, with solid national security bonafides,” he said, “And I’ll be there to vouch for her and proud to endorse her all along the way.”

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Warner salutes Biden, supports Harris, lambasts Trump in interview