Washington — Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday agreed to participate in a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News on Oct. 1 in New York City.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has not yet agreed on a date, leaving Republican Sen. JD Vance’s participation in doubt.
Earlier in the day, CBS News suggested four dates for a debate between the two vice presidential nominees: Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1 and Oct. 8. The Harris-Walz campaign quickly settled on Oct. 1.
“See you on October 1st, JD,” Walz wrote on XA campaign aide said Walz is “looking forward to the debate with J.D. Vance — if he shows up.”
Vance did not respond to reporters’ questions about whether he would agree to the debate after returning from an event in Michigan on Wednesday.
The Vice Presidential Debate
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A date for the vice presidential debate has been uncertain since the spring, when CBS News first extended the invitation to both presidential campaigns. In May, Biden’s campaign said that Vice President Kamala Harris, then his running mate, was prepared to face the eventual Republican vice presidential nominee on either July 23 or Aug. 13.
Trump Vance plucked as his running mate on July 15, the first day of the Republican National Convention. His campaign quickly declined to commit to a vice presidential debate before the Democratic National Convention on August 19, saying it would be premature since Harris could ultimately become the Democratic nominee.
Mr. Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, just weeks after his own poor performance in his debate with Trump. Harris quickly marshaled the support needed to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket and formally clinched the nomination last week. She named Walz as her running mate, finalized vice presidential nominees for both campaigns and kicked off a sprint to the November election.
Last week, Trump said CBS News was set to host the vice presidential debate, and that Vance “really stepped up” and “did a fantastic job.” He added that he was willing to participate in three debates with Harris in September, hosted by Fox News, ABC News and NBC News. The Harris campaign had previously committed to one debate, the Sept. 10 event on ABC.
This year marks the first election cycle since 1988 in which the debates will not be hosted by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. In 2022, the Republican National Committee will host the debates. voted to ban GOP nominations from participating in debates organized by the commission, accusing organizers of bias in the two 2020 meetings between Biden and Trump.
Instead, television networks had to negotiate directly with the presidential campaigns over dates and terms for the debates. CNN hosted the first debate of the cycle between Biden and Trump in June, a much earlier start than in previous election years. CNN allowed other networks to carry the debate on their airwaves, following the practice for debates organized by the commission.
