JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, has accepted an invitation by CBS to debate Tim Walz, his Democratic counterpart, on 1 October after initially appearing to hedge.
Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, also said he was accepting another invitation from CNN to debate Walz on 18 September, although it was unclear whether the Democratic nominee had agreed to the challenge.
“The American people deserve as many debates as possible, which is why President Trump has challenged Kamala [Harris] to three of them already,” Vance posted on X.
“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!”
Vance’s sudden willingness was a belated response to Walz, the governor of Minnesota, who had posted “See you on October 1, JD” after CBS offered four possible debate dates on Wednesday.
The Republican vice-presidential candidate had originally told Fox News that he wanted to avoid “a fake news garbage debate” and said he had questions over the moderators and format before accepting.
There was no immediate sign that Walz – who has goaded Vance about his hardline anti-abortion stance – had accepted the CNN invite to a separate debate.
A statement from the Harris-Walz campaign’s communication director, Michael Tyler, referred only to the confirmed scheduling of the 1 October debate and two separate encounters between Harris and Trump, one set for 10 September and the other for the following month.
“Assuming Donald Trump actually shows up on September 10 to debate Vice-President Harris, then Governor Walz will see JD Vance on October 1 and the American people will have another opportunity to see the vice-president and Donald Trump on the debate stage in October,” Tyler said.
“Voters deserve to see the candidates for the highest office in the land share their competing visions for our future. The more they play games, the more insecure and unserious Trump and Vance reveal themselves to be to the American people. Those games end now.”
Harris owes her elevation to the top of the Democratic ticket to a debate – or rather to Joe Biden’s inability to participate in it effectively. It was the president’s woeful performance in a debate against Trump on 27 June that led to intense pressure from Democrats for him to step aside as the party’s candidate, which he did on 21 July.
Biden and Trump were due to debate again on 10 September, hosted by ABC. But since the president’s withdrawal from the race, Trump has sent mixed signals about his intention to turn up for the same rendezvous against Harris, before eventually agreeing to do so.
Vance has affected disappointment that Harris’s promotion has denied him the opportunity to debate her.
“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,” he said at a campaign rally in Middletown, Ohio, last month.
