Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance have agreed to debate on October 1st. At that time, the two vice presidential candidates will meet face-to-face as early voting begins in some states.
Vice President Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has predicted that she will schedule a second debate with Donald Trump, though the showdown appears to hinge on the Republican nominee’s participation in a Sept. 10 debate with her.
CBS News posted on X on Wednesday that the network had invited Vance and Walz to debate in New York City and offered four possible dates – Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1 and Oct. 8 – to choose from.
Walz retweeted the message on his campaign account, writing, “See you on October 1, JD,” and the Harris-Waltz campaign later posted a message saying that Walz “looks forward to debating JD.Vance – if he shows up. ”
Vance posted on X that he would accept the Oct. 1 invitation. He also challenged Walz to meet on September 18th.
Officials from the Harris-Waltz campaign did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press (AP), which asked for comment on Vance’s acceptance of that more debate – which he said would be aired on CNN – and asked if Walz would also participate in that debate.
A representative for CNN confirmed that Vance accepted their invitation to the debate.
CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan of Face the Nation will moderate the Oct. 1 debate, CBS News reported.
Previously, there had been questions about whether Walz and Vance would debate before the Nov. 5 election.
The debate comes three weeks after the Sept. 10 presidential debate between Trump and Harris on ABC News.
Trump has said he has negotiated several other debate dates at three different television networks. Fox News has also proposed a Sept. 4 debate between Harris and Trump, and NBC News has jumped at the chance to air a Sept. 25 debate.
In an appearance in Michigan, Harris said she was “happy to talk” about the possibility of one more debate.
On Thursday, Harris’ campaign said Trump “accepted our offer to have three debates,” meaning one between the vice presidential running mates in addition to two presidential debates. Michael Tyler, a spokesman for Harris-Waltz, said that as long as Trump participates in the Sept. 10 CBS debate, “the American people will have another opportunity” to see VP Harris and Trump in the debate ring in October, without mentioning specific dates or the television network.
Neither campaign immediately responded to a request for comment from The Associated Press asking if a date or television network for the second presidential debate had been agreed upon.
