U.S. vice presidential candidates Walz, Vance agree to October debate

CBS News offers debates to Walz and Vance, Harris and Trump set for showdown, as election race heats up.

The running mates of White House rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have agreed to face off in at least one vice-presidential debate, accepting an invitation from CBS News for an October 1 showdown.

CBS posted Wednesday (August 14, 2024) on social media platform X that it had offered four potential debates in September and October to Democratic Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Ohio's Republican senator J.D. Vance.

"See you on October 1, JD," Mr. Walz replied, before the Harris campaign officially confirmed that it had accepted the date, which comes after early voting has already started in several states.

Mr. Vance said Thursday (August 15, 2024) he had also accepted the October 1 invitation, and suggested an earlier debate on September 18 that had been offered by CNN, arguing the "American people deserve as many debates as possible."

There had been some doubt over whether the encounter would take place at all.

Mr. Vance confirmed he was open to October 1 in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday (August 14, 2024) but said he would not do "one of these fake debates... where they don't actually have an audience," like the June 27 encounter between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden.

Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump are set to stage their own debate on September 10, hosted by ABC News, and the Vice President has said she is open to looking at her opponent's suggestions for further showdowns.