Governor Tim Walz has agreed to participate in a vice-presidential debate hosted by CBS News on October 1st in New York City, but former President Donald Trump’s campaign has not yet agreed to the date, leaving GOP Senator JD Vance’s participation in question. CBS News proposed four dates for the debate between the two vice-presidential nominees: September 17th, September 24th, October 1st, and October 8th. The Harris-Walz campaign agreed to the October 1st date, and Walz expressed his readiness to debate Vance if he shows up. Vance, in response, stated that he was open to debating Walz on October 1st but did not firmly commit to the date, mentioning the need to discuss debate rules and formats.
The vice-presidential debate has been in limbo since the spring when CBS News first extended the invitation to both presidential campaigns. President Biden’s campaign, at the time, said Vice President Kamala Harris was willing to face off against the eventual Republican vice-presidential nominee on either July 23rd or August 13th. Trump chose Vance as his running mate on July 15th, and his campaign declined to commit to a debate before the Democratic National Convention on August 19th. After Biden dropped out of the race and Harris became the Democratic nominee, she named Walz as her running mate, finalizing the vice-presidential picks for both campaigns. Trump has expressed willingness to participate in three debates with Harris in September hosted by Fox News, ABC News, and NBC News.
This year marks the first election cycle since 1988 in which debates are not being organized by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. The Republican National Committee banned GOP nominees from participating in Commission-hosted debates in 2022, leading television networks to negotiate dates and terms for the debates directly with the presidential campaigns. CNN hosted the first debate of the cycle between Biden and Trump in June, with other networks allowed to carry the debate on their airwaves. Trump praised Vance for stepping up and doing a fantastic job, while the Harris campaign committed to one debate on September 10th on ABC. Vance expressed a desire to debate Walz more than once and emphasized the importance of having a good exchange of ideas on October 1st.
As the vice-presidential debate date approaches, the question of whether both candidates will ultimately agree to participate remains. Walz’s readiness to debate Vance on October 1st contrasts with Vance’s tentative commitment, pending further discussions on debate rules and formats. The dynamic of the debate will likely be influenced by the negotiation between the campaigns and the hosting network, CBS News. With the 2022 election cycle deviating from the traditional organization of debates by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the responsibility has shifted to television networks to arrange and facilitate these critical exchanges of ideas between vice-presidential candidates.
