Walz agrees to October 1 vice presidential debate

(CNN) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday that he has agreed to participate in a vice presidential debate on CBS News on October 1.

CBS News posted to social media Wednesday its invitation to Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, offering the candidates two dates in September and two dates in October as options for a debate in New York City.

Walz responded to the invitation on social media, writing, “See you on October 1, JD.”

A Kamala Harris campaign official confirmed Walz’s acceptance: “Harris for President has accepted CBS’ invitation to a Vice Presidential Candidate Debate on October 1. Governor Walz looks forward to debating JD Vance – if he shows up.”

Vance would not yet commit to debating Walz on October 1 in an interview on Fox News later Wednesday. The Ohio senator said while he “strongly” suspects he’ll participate, he wants to talk through rules and parameters with CBS, arguing against a debate without an audience.

“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.

In May, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Harris accepted an invitation from CBS News to debate Donald Trump’s future running mate on either July 23 or August 13. Trump said on his Truth Social platform at the time that his campaign had accepted an invitation for his future running mate to participate in a Fox News debate.

Trump named Vance as his running mate last month. Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket shortly after Biden ended his reelection campaign, and she picked Walz as her running mate last week.

Harris and Trump have agreed to meet for a presidential debate on ABC News on September 10. It will be the second presidential debate of the year, following Trump’s faceoff with Biden on CNN in late June. Biden’s dismal performance at that debate set off alarm bells among Democrats that culminated with him exiting the race.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi, Kayla Tausche and Kit Maher contributed to this report.

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