US VP nominees agree to debate hosted by CBS on Oct 1

Washington, Aug 16 (IANS) US Vice-Presidential nominees -- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance -- on Thursday agreed to participate in a debate hosted by CBS News, which is scheduled for October 1.The debate will be moderated by "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell and "Face the Nation" moderator and CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan, according to the network.On Wednesday, the network announced that Walz agreed to the October 1 date, after proposing four dates for a debate between the two Vice-Presidential nominees, Xinhua news agency reported.

"See you on October 1, JD," Walz, the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee, said on Wednesday in a post on social media platform X.

Vance, the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, said in a post on X on Thursday that he had agreed to the debate."Not only do I accept the CBS debate on October 1, I accept the CNN debate on September 18 as well. I look forward to seeing you at both!" said Vance.Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, picked Vance as his running mate on July 15, the first day of the Republican National Convention held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee. Harris quickly consolidated support within the party and won enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee after a five-day online balloting process in early August.

On August 6, Harris announced that she selected Walz as her running mate. On the same day, the two kicked off a five-day campaign tour in key swing states including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.Last week, ABC announced that Trump and Harris agreed to a presidential debate to be hosted by the network on September 10, setting up the first confrontation between the new opponents on stage prior to the November election.