CNN
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North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a leading contender to be President Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee, sought to raise hopes about President Joe Biden's debating abilities ahead of Thursday's CNN presidential debate.
“He can step up when it's necessary,” the Republican governor told CNN's Caitlin Collins on “State of the Union” on Sunday, countering that the Biden team is “making a real effort to lower expectations.”
Citing Biden's long political experience, Burgum said, “This guy has the chops. We saw it in the debates four years ago. We saw it in the State of the Union address this year. He can step up when it's needed.”
Burgum joins Trump and other Republicans who have predicted the president will put on a strong debate performance ahead of the June 27 debate. Trump has questioned Biden's mental health on the campaign trail, but said last week that Biden would be a “great debater,” pointing to his 2012 vice presidential debate with Paul Ryan.
“I watched him play against Paul Ryan, and he beat Paul Ryan,” Trump said. “I don't underestimate him.”
This week's one-on-one showdown will be the first presidential debate between a sitting president and a former president and the first since 2020 featuring either Biden, who faced no serious challenge for the Democratic nomination, or Trump, who skipped debates during the Republican primary.
A memo issued by the Biden campaign on Sunday said the president plans to focus the debate on abortion, democracy and Trump's economic plan. The president and his team have been spending the weekend before the debate at Camp David poring over binders of briefings and holding mock debates.
While President Trump has been holding private briefings with advisers and allies, he also continues to actively campaign.
Asked Sunday about being one of Trump's running mates, Burgum said, “He has a lot of great options. My background is both successful in business and in the executive branch, and I think everybody, probably the whole country, knows that.”
“But it's up to him to choose based on what criteria he wants,” he added.
Burgum, who sold a software company to Microsoft for more than $1 billion in stock before taking office as North Dakota governor, also left open the possibility of donating his own money to campaigns if nominated. Federal campaign finance law allows candidates to donate unlimited amounts to their own campaigns.
“If asked, I'll see what happens,” he said.
CNN's Kevin Liptak and Kate Sullivan contributed to this story.
