JD Vance Gives VP Debate Update, Lays Out Conditions for Taking On Tim Walz

JD Vance has said he "strongly suspects" he and his team will debate Tim Walz but he wants to make sure certain conditions are met first.

Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, agreed to debate with his Republican counterpart on October 1, on CBS News.

Vance, who is yet to confirm he will be there, said they need to "talk about the rules a little bit," which will include having an audience present and "setting the parameters in the right way, where they can have a good exchange of ideas."

Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham asked Vance if there is "any doubt" he would "not be there on October 1, to debate Walz.

The Ohio senator answered: "Look Laura, we want to actually look at the debates, look at the moderators, talk about the rules a little bit.

"CBS reached out to us about this literally three hours ago—I was landing from a rally and a press conference in Michigan.

"I strongly suspect we're going to be there on October 1, but we're not going to do one of these fake debates, Laura, where they don't actually have an audience there, where they don't actually set the parameters in the right way where we can have a good exchange of ideas.

"In other words, we're not going to walk into a fake news media garbage debate, we're going to do a real debate and if CBS agrees to it, then certainly we'll do it."

CBS posted its invitation to Walz and Vance on social media on Wednesday, giving them two dates in September and two dates in October to debate in New York City.

Walz responded on X, formerly Twitter, saying: "See you on October 1, JD."

There has recently been controversy about the two men's military records, after Vance questioned whether Walz had ever carried a gun and accused him of abandoning his unit before it was deployed to the war in Iraq, using the words "stolen valor" about him.

Walz spent 24 years in the National Guard, rising to command sergeant major, one of the top ranks for an enlisted soldier. He left the Guard in 2005, before the battalion he led were deployed to Iraq. Walz previously said his decision to retire was so he could run for Congress.

Vance served in the Marine Corps for four years, although he never saw combat. He served as a combat correspondent in Iraq between August 2005 and February 2006.