Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said he “strongly doubts” he will attend the vice presidential debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) on Oct. 1, but said he would like to debate him “more than once.”
But Vance told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday that he wants a “real debate” and that he wants to “look at the debate, look at the moderators, talk a little bit about the rules.”
“I highly doubt we’ll be there on October 1, but we’re not going to have some kind of fake debate where they don’t really have an audience and they don’t really set the parameters in a way that allows us to have a good exchange of ideas,” Vance said.
“In other words, we’re not going to get into the fake news media garbage debate,” he continued. “We’re going to have a real debate, and if CBS agrees, we’ll definitely do that.”
Waltz agreed to attend the vice presidential debate on October 1, according to a post on X after CBS News suggested the debate be held on September 17, September 24, October 1, or October 8.
CBS News originally proposed a vice presidential debate for late July or early August, but that date was scrapped after President Biden dropped out of the race.
Vance added that he would like to debate Walz “more than once.”
“I think it’s important for the American people to actually see us talking about our views,” he said. “If you look at the way we’re running this campaign, Donald Trump and I are doing all the media interviews. We’re talking to every audience we can because our vision is so clear.”
After the presidential debate, the vice presidential debate takes place.
Former President Trump accepted debate invitations from Fox News on Sept. 4 and NBC News on Sept. 25. Vice President Harris and her campaign said they would attend the Sept. 10 debate before agreeing on other potential dates.
