Vance and Walz set for vice presidential debate on October 1

By Kit Maher, Aaron Pellish and Jeff Zeleny, CNN

(CNN) — Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance and his Democratic counterpart, Tim Walz, are set to participate in a debate hosted by CBS on October 1 after the Ohio senator accepted the invitation Thursday, a day after the Minnesota governor did the same.

Vance also accepted CNN’s invitation for a vice presidential debate this fall, but the Kamala Harris campaign declined a second onstage showdown between the two running mates.

“The debate about debates is over. Donald Trump’s campaign accepted our proposal for three debates — two presidential and a vice presidential debate,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement Thursday.

Harris and Trump have agreed to meet for a presidential debate on ABC on September 10. Trump has also agreed to debates on Fox News and NBC. Harris is open to an additional debate with the former president in October, a senior campaign adviser told CNN, but the details will not be settled until the first debate is in the books.

Traditionally, there has only been one vice presidential debate in an election cycle, though Vance on Thursday called for holding “as many debates as we possibly can.” He responded on social media to the news that his Republican counterpart had committed to a sole debate by saying, “Tim Walz refuses to deploy!” (Vance has accused Walz of ducking service in Iraq when he left the Army National Guard to run for Congress.)

A CNN spokesperson said Thursday that the network had invited both Vance and Walz for a fall debate.

“We are always in communication with the campaigns around opportunities for the American public to hear from leading candidates for President and Vice President of the United States,” the spokesperson said.

Vance, whom Trump named as his running mate last month, said earlier Thursday on social media that he was “looking forward” to debating Walz.

“The American people deserve as many debates as possible, which is why President Trump has challenged Kamala to three of them already. Not only do I accept the CBS debate on October 1st, I accept the CNN debate on September 18th as well. I look forward to seeing you at both!” he wrote.

Walz, who joined Harris on the Democratic ticket last week, accepted the CBS invitation Wednesday, writing on social media, “See you on October 1, JD.”

CBS News offered the candidates two dates in September and two dates in October as options for a debate in New York City.

Speaking to reporters Thursday after a campaign stop outside Pittsburgh, Vance called for more debates while accusing Walz and his ticket mate Harris of running “from every media interview.”

“I think we ought to do as many debates as we possibly can,” he said in New Kensington, Pennsylvania.

“President Trump has invited Kamala Harris to do three debates. She’s only agreed to one. Tim Walz, I guess we agreed to do a debate on October 1,” the senator said. “CNN wants to do a debate in mid-September. And I said, ‘Yes, absolutely,’ because the American people deserve it.”

Asked by CNN about the rules for the vice presidential debates, Vance said that his team didn’t “really didn’t ask or require much.”

“We just wanted to make sure that we had an opportunity to do a real exchange of views,” Vance said. “That was my only directive, and I told my staff, ‘Agree to whatever we have to agree to,’ because I think it’s important, again, to be able to stand before the American people and actually ask for their vote, not just pretend it’s going to be given to you.”

In May, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Harris accepted an invitation from CBS to debate Trump’s future running mate on either July 23 or August 13. Trump said on his Truth Social platform at the time that his campaign had accepted an invitation for his future running mate to participate in a Fox News debate.

Following Biden’s exit and Harris’ rapid ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket, Vance expressed disappointment that he wouldn’t get the chance to face off against Harris onstage.

“I was told I was gonna get to debate Kamala Harris, and now President Trump’s gonna get to debate her? I’m kind of pissed off about that, if I’m being honest with you,” Vance said at a hometown rally in Middletown, Ohio, last month.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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