On Thursday, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) accepted the invitation to CBS News’ 2024 vice presidential debate on October 1 and dared Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz to appear for at least one more.
Vance said in a post to X that the “American people deserve as many debates as possible,” which he noted is why former President Donald Trump challenged Vice President Kamala Harris to three of them.
“Not only do I accept the CBS debate on October 1st, I accept the CNN debate on September 18th as well,” Vance added. “I look forward to seeing you at both!”
Vance was responding to a Wednesday post from Walz, who said he accepted CBS News’ proposal for October 1 — which comes after early voting begins in some states.
“CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell, and “Face the Nation” moderator and CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan have been selected to moderate the debate.
The network said it had provided three other dates — September 17, September 24, and October 8 — to the candidates for its vice presidential debate in New York City.
As of press time, it was unclear whether Walz would accept the CNN debate challenge. CNN reported that it reached out to Harris’ campaign for comment.
Trump faced President Joe Biden in a CNN debate with no audience and mic cuts in June. After Biden’s fumbling performance sparked a crisis of confidence among his allies, he stepped aside under pressure and Harris took the top spot on the Democratic Party’s ticket.
Vance did not immediately accept CBS’s invitation to a debate, saying in a Wednesday evening Fox News interview he wanted to assess the proposed rules and moderators. “We’re not going to walk into a fake news media garbage debate,” he said. In particular, Vance signaled having no audience at the venue would be a deal-breaker.
In a preview of what is to come on October 1, Vance took a swipe at his rival earlier this week over “stolen valor” accusations that Walz faces in a controversy related to his military service record.
“Hi Tim, I thank you for your service. But you shouldn’t have lied about it. You shouldn’t have said you went to war when you didn’t. Nor should you have said that you didn’t know your unit was going to Iraq. Happy to discuss more in a debate,” Vance said in a post to X.
A release from CBS on Wednesday announced that invites were sent out to the campaigns earlier in the day, but did not mention any parameters for the debate. The moderators were revealed publicly only after both candidates agreed to the October 1 date.
Trump and Harris are scheduled to have their first debate on September 10. That event is set to be hosted by ABC News. Trump has floated two other debates next month, one held by Fox News and another held by NBC News, but Harris has not agreed to either one of them.
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