Tim Walz accepts invitation to debate, JD Vance doubles down calls for two

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at the 46th International Convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) at the Los Angeles Convention Center on August 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at the 46th International Convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) at the Los Angeles Convention Center on August 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Photo credit Mario Tama/Getty Images

Updated 11 a.m. EST — Walz and Vance have now both agreed to two debates, one hosted by CBS News on Oct. 1 and another two weeks prior hosted by CNN on Sept. 18.

Vance posted on social media that he would accept the invitations from the media companies the morning after Walz accepted the proposal from CBS News.

"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!" Vance posted on X.

Walz has yet to accept the second debate proposal for Sept. 18.

Original story — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) has accepted an invitation from CBS News for a vice presidential debate against Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) on Oct. 1, almost a month before the election.

Walz responded to the proposal from CBS News in a post to his X account, saying, “See you on Oct. 1, JD.”

The response came just seven minutes after CBS News posted the proposal.

The Harris campaign issued a statement on the debate, saying it has “accepted CBS’ invitation to a Vice Presidential Candidate Debate on Oct. 1. Governor Walz looks forward to debating JD Vance -- if he shows up.”

On Wednesday night, while being interviewed by Fox News, Vance said he planned on debating Walz, proposing they do so multiple times but did not commit to a specific date for the network proposal.

“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,” Vance told Fox News.

He did note that he “strongly” thinks he’ll be at the CBS debate but that he wasn’t going “to do one of these fake debates” without an audience.

The remark was in reference to the debate between Biden and Trump on June 27 that was hosted in a TV studio without an audience, a break from what is usually seen in presidential debates.

“In other words, we’re not going to walk into a fake news media garbage debate,” Vance said. “We’re going to do a real debate, and if CBS agrees to it, then certainly we’ll do it.”

Also on Wednesday, CBS News said it had invited the two vice presidential candidates to debate on four proposed dates, including two in September and two in October.

The Trump campaign agreed last week to a debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10. The showdown will be hosted by ABC News.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images