Vance, Harris discuss debate in ‘brief and respectful’ first phone conversation since VP nod

Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday afternoon in what was the pair’s first conversation since Vance was named former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Vance and Harris had a ‘brief and respectful’ conversation, a source with knowledge of the call said.

Vance and Harris both said they look forward to debating, the source said, adding that no specifics were discussed. 

Harris left a voicemail for Vance after Trump announced him as his VP pick on Monday afternoon. 

Vance called Harris back on Tuesday afternoon. 

Harris previously had committed to a debate hosted by CBS News against Trump’s running mate – who at that point had not been named – for either July 23 or Aug. 13. It is unclear when Vance and Harris will debate. 

Trump announced that Vance was his pick for the ticket on Monday afternoon, just before Trump was formally nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee at the RNC Convention in Milwaukee. 

‘After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,’ Trump announced on his Truth Social platform.

Trump emphasized that Vance will be on the campaign trail and ‘will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond….’

‘As Vice President, JD will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our troops, and will do everything he can to help me Make America Great Again,’ Trump said. 

Vance grew up in a working-class family in a small city in southwestern Ohio. His parents divorced when he was young, and as his mother struggled for years with drug and alcohol abuse, Vance was raised in part by his maternal grandparents.

After his high school graduation, Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in the Iraq War. He later graduated from Ohio State University and earned a law degree at Yale University.

Vance, who lives in Cincinnati, moved to San Francisco after law school and worked as a principal in a venture capital firm owned by billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who later became a major financial supporter of Vance’s successful 2022 campaign for the Senate.

Before running for Senate, Vance grabbed national attention after ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ which tells his story of growing up in a struggling steel mill city and his roots in Appalachian Kentucky, became a New York Times bestseller and was made into a Netflix film. The story spotlighted the values of many working-class Americans who became supporters of Trump’s policies.

Vance was a vocal critic of Trump when the former president first ran for the White House during the 2016 cycle. 

However, Vance eventually supported Trump, praising the former president’s tenure in the White House, and in a Fox News interview in 2021, he apologized for his earlier criticism of Trump.

Trump’s endorsement of Vance days before the 2022 GOP Senate primary boosted him to victory in a crowded, competitive and combustible nomination race.

‘Look, I was wrong about Donald Trump. I didn’t think he was going to be a good president,’ Vance told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview last month. ‘He was a great president, and it’s one of the reasons why I’m working so hard to make sure he gets a second term.’

In the Senate, Vance has been one of the most vocal supporters of Trump’s America First agenda and has been a vocal opponent of U.S. aid to Ukraine.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.