Walz and Vance agree to US vice-presidential debate, setting up October clash

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance have agreed to debate each other on October 1, setting up a match-up of potential US vice-presidents as early voting in some states gets under way for the general election.

CBS News on Wednesday posted on its X feed that the network had invited both Vance and Walz to debate in New York, presenting four possible dates – September 17, September 24, October 1 and October 8 – as options.

Walz reposted that message from his own campaign account: “See you on October 1, JD.” The Harris-Walz campaign followed up with a message of its own, saying Walz “looks forward to debating J.D. Vance – if he shows up”.

Vance posted on X that he would accept the October 1 invitation. He also challenged Walz to meet on September 18.

Officials with the Kamala Harris-Walz campaign did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Vance’s acceptance of the earlier debate that he said would be on CNN or whether Walz would participate in that one as well.

Representatives for CNN confirmed that Vance had accepted the network’s debate invitation.

CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan of Face the Nation will moderate the October 1 debate, according to the network.

Whether Walz and Vance would debate before the November 5 general election had been in question. In just the past several weeks, US President Joe Biden left the campaign and Democrats selected Harris to lead their ticket.

Vance has largely kept his focus trained on Harris, whom he would have been set to debate before Biden’s departure from the race. Vance has thrown critiques against Walz, including questioning the retired Army National Guardsman’s service record.

Former US president Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has said he wanted Vance to debate Walz on CBS, which had been discussing potential dates for that meeting.

The debate is expected weeks after the September 10 top-of-the-ticket debate recently solidified between Trump and Harris on ABC News.

Trump has said he negotiated several other debate dates, on three different networks. Fox News has also proposed a debate between Harris and Trump to take place on September 4, and NBC News is angling to air one on September 25.

During an appearance in Michigan, Harris said she was “happy to have that conversation” about an additional debate.

On Thursday, Harris’ campaign said Trump had “accepted our proposal for three debates”, meaning one between the vice-presidential running mates, in addition to two presidential debates.

Provided that Trump follows through on taking part in the September 10 debate, Harris-Walz spokesman Michael Tyler said that “the American people will have another opportunity” to see the Harris and Trump on the debate stage in October, without mentioning a specific date or network.

Neither campaign immediately responded to a message seeking comment on whether a date or network had been agreed to for a second presidential debate.