Vance-Walz vice presidential debate: How to watch live as candidates face off on Oct. 1
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio will go head-to-head on Tuesday for the first and only scheduled vice presidential debate ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
The debate comes as early voting gets underway in several states like Minnesota and South Dakota and three weeks after former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris sparred onstage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia about immigration, abortion, the economy, climate change and overseas conflicts.
The high-stakes event could be the last face-off for all the candidates before Election Day.
⌚ When, where and how to watch
Tuesday’s debate is set to start at 9 p.m. ET and will last for 90 minutes. It will be held in New York City — a deep-blue Democratic stronghold and former home to Trump — at the CBS Broadcast Center.
The event will be broadcast on CBS, and it will be livestreamed on all platforms where CBS News 24/7 and Paramount+ are available. CBS said it plans to simulcast the debate across various channels.
Yahoo.com will also feature real-time coverage and analysis from our editorial team.
🗣️ Who’s moderating the debate?
The debate will be moderated by Norah O'Donnell, managing editor and anchor of CBS Evening News, and Margaret Brennan, CBS News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of Face the Nation.
📖 What are the debate rules?
The audience-free debate will be 90 minutes long, with two four-minute breaks. Campaign staff members are not allowed to interact with the candidates during breaks.
Walz and Vance will each be given a pen, pad of paper and water bottle — and no props or prepped notes will be allowed on stage.
The candidates will each have two minutes to answer a question, and then will get one minute each for a rebuttal. Candidates may get another minute to discuss, "at the discretion of the moderators."
Each candidate will get two minutes to deliver a closing statement. Vance won a virtual coin toss on Sept. 26 and chose to deliver his statement second.
✍️ How are Vance and Walz preparing?
Vance asked GOP Rep. Tom Emmer from Minnesota to stand in as Walz, a fellow Minnesotan, for debate prep, the New York Times reported. Vance has had debate practice sessions at his Cincinnati home and online with his team and with a senior adviser on Trump’s campaign, Jason Miller.
Vance is expected to depict Walz’s policies as too liberal, focusing on action he took as governor of Minnesota while also attacking him on inflation and immigration.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been standing in for Vance during Walz’s debate prep. Walz has been prepping with his longtime aides, Biden White House alumni and members of the Harris-Walz campaign team. The Minnesota governor is expected to take aim at Vance’s conservative stance on reproductive health and LGBTQ rights.
🗓 Are there other debates planned?
No agreements or proposals for a second vice presidential debate have been made public.
As far as another presidential debate rematch, Harris has committed to an Oct. 23 debate against Trump, hosted by CNN. But the former president told supporters during a Wilmington, N.C., rally that a second presidential debate is “just too late — voting has already started.”
