Walz agrees to Oct. 1 VP debate; Vance says he'll 'certainly' face rival but doesn't confirm date
It looks like Tim Walz and JD Vance are heading for the debate stage.
Kamala Harris' vice-presidential pick agreed to debate Donald Trump's in a showdown hosted by CBS News in October. The outlet said this week that it invited both VP candidates to debate in New York on Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1, or Oct. 8.
Walz on Wednesday confirmed on X that he's accepted CBS' invitation.
"See you on October 1, JD," he posted.
Vance in an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday said "I strongly suspect" he would compete against Walz on Oct. 1, but added that he'd first look at the moderators and other rules surrounding a potential debate.
“We're certainly going to debate Tim Walz. We just heard about this thing three hours ago. So we're going to talk to them and figure out when we can debate. I actually think we should do more than one debate. So, hopefully, we're going to see him on October 1, but hopefully we're going to see him either before or after that, because I think it's important for the American people to actually see us discuss our views," Vance said.
Vance, 40, is an Ohio senator, former marine, and rose to national fame via his bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy." Walz, 60, is Minnesota's governor, a longtime lawmaker representing the state and a former high school football coach. On policy, they are generally in lockstep with their running mates – and opposite from one another.
In a campaign fundraising email Wednesday, Walz said he "can't wait to debate the guy."
"JD Vance shares Donald Trump’s dangerous and backward agenda for this country," Walz wrote.
Before Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 election, Brian Hughes, a Trump campaign senior adviser, poked fun at the Democratic Party's division over the president's candidacy and said the GOP campaign refused to accept a vice-presidential debate invitation.
"To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate,” Hughes said in a July 17 statement.
Still, Vance previously confirmed that he intended to debate Walz. He told CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday that "of course" he wanted to face off against his Democratic counterpart.
“I think it’s important, and I think that it goes to a very fundamental difference between the Trump-Vance ticket and our opposition. We believe in talking to the media. We believe in answering questions. We believe in debating,” Vance said.
Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @rachelbarber_
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tim Walz agrees to October VP debate against JD Vance hosted by CBS