Vice presidential debate: Start time, moderators, how to watch and stream faceoff between Walz and Vance

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio) will face off Tuesday night in New York City in the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 election.

The debate, which is being broadcast by CBS News, comes three weeks after Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump squared off in Philadelphia in their first and possibly only debate. ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis were widely praised for their live fact checks, but CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan will take a more passive approach tonight, allowing Walz and Vance to correct each other.

Instead, CBS will display a QR code on the screen viewers can scan with their phones, directing them to real-time fact checks by reporters on the CBS News website. But that code will appear only on CBS’ telecast and not every other broadcast or cable news network also broadcasting tonight’s debate.

The decision to back away from real-time fact checks comes as Trump continues to spread lies about Haitian migrants in towns in Ohio and Pennsylvania, which have disrupted lives and led to bomb threats. During his debate with Harris, Trump falsely claimed these migrants were eating the pets of residents in Springfield, Ohio, a lie first spread by Vance online.

During an appearance on CNN last month, Vance acknowledged that he had no direct evidence to support the claims, and made the stunning admission that he was willing “to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people.”

Both candidates have been preparing for the debate. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has played the role of Vance in mock debates against Walz, according to the New York Times, while Vance has turned to Rep. Tom Emmer (R., Minn.) as a stand-in for Walz.

“I spent the last month just going back, all of his old stuff, to get his phrases down, his mannerisms, that sort of thing,” Emmer said on ABC’s This Week Sunday. “My job was to be able to play Tim Walz so JD Vance knows what he’s going to see.”

The debate, which is scheduled to last 90 minutes, will have two four-minute breaks and no audience. Both candidates will be standing behind lecterns, making this the first vice presidential debate since 2008 where the candidates aren’t seated at a table. And unlike during the presidential debates, CBS will leave the microphones on and not mute candidates when it isn’t their turn to speak.

While it likely won’t affect the election much, tonight’s debate is expected deliver a massive audience upward of 50 million people. The debate between Harris and then-Vice President Mike Pence, who has refused to endorse Trump over his failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, drew more than 57 million viewers.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the debate:

The vice presidential debate between Walz and Vance is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern and last an hour and a half.

The debate is hosted by CBS News but will be shown live on all major broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS) and cable news networks (C-Span, CNN, MSNBC, Fox Business, Fox News, NewsNation). It will also be available to stream on a host of so-called skinny cable bundles, such as YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, AT&T Now, and FuboTV.

You can also stream the debate right here, courtesy of PBS:

Following the trend of previous 2024 debates, tonight’s event will have two moderators.

The first is Norah O’Donnell, who has anchored the CBS Evening News since 2019 and has spent decades in Washington as a political reporter and White House correspondent. After the election, O’Donnell will shift roles to become a senior correspondent, moving away from the nightly grind to focus more of her time on 60 Minutes, “big interviews,” and prime-time specials.

Joining her on the debate stage will be Margaret Brennan, who succeeded John Dickerson as the moderator of Face the Nation in 2018. Brennan was also a White House correspondent, and like O’Donnell has a long tenure covering politics. Brennan has interviewed Vance on Face the Nation five times since 2023, most recently last month, when he defended his false claims about Haitian migrants. Walz has never appeared on Face the Nation.

Not as of now.

Harris has accepted CNN’s invitation for a second presidential debate on Oct. 23. But Trump has rejected the idea, claiming it wasn’t necessary because he felt he won the first contest and the second debate would happen too close to Election Day.

“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late, voting has already started,” Trump said at a rally in North Carolina on Sept. 21. “Now she wants to do a debate right before the election with CNN because she’s losing badly.”

Harris continues to press Trump to agree to a second debate, most recently telling a crowd of supporters Sunday at a rally in Las Vegas the vice presidential debate shouldn’t be the last word ahead of the election

“I’m trying to debate Donald Trump again. I think he should debate again. The American people have a right to hear us discuss the issues,” Harris said. “I’m all in, even if my opponent is ready to fold.”

Here are some recent stories about the 2024 election from The Inquirer: