US POLITICS
When will Tim Walz and JD Vance debate?
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice president running mate, a contrast to Trump’s JD Vance.
Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate for the 2024 presidential campaign. They will start campaigning this week in Philadelphia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada.
Among the choices for VP to run with Harris were Walz, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois, Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, and Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. Harris interviewed Walz, Kelly, and Shapiro in person on Sunday and on Tuesday, she announced Walz as her choice.
Will Tim Walz debate JD Vance?
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is running with JD Vance. When Harris was chosen as the Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Walz went viral for calling Trump and Vance “weird”.
“I think this is going back to the bread-and-butter: getting away from this division,” Walz said. “We do not like what has happened, when you can’t even go to Thanksgiving dinner with your uncle because you end up in some weird fight that is unnecessary … It’s true: These guys are just weird.”
Trump supporters were quick to criticize Walz after the announcement, with Super Pac Make America Great Again Inc saying in a press release, “Governor Tim Walz and Kamala Harris will get along just great. They’re both far-left radicals that don’t know how to govern.”
It would be great to see Walz and Vance face off in a televised debate, but it is still unclear whether or not that will happen. Harris herself had accepted an invitation to a vice presidential debate when it was she who was the VP candidate before Biden dropped out. On July 17, Trump’s senior campaign adviser Brian Hughes said it would be “unfair” to the potential Democratic VP candidates to schedule a debate before knowing who Harris’ pick would be.
A vice presidential debate was originally scheduled to take place at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania on September 25, but the event was canceled. There may not even be another presidential debate, as Trump backed out of a debate scheduled for September 10. At the time, Biden was still the nominee. When Harris was selected as the new candidate, she wrote on social media, “I’ll be there on September 10, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.”
Vance is scheduled to be in Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon to speak to reporters. Harris and Walz will debut as running mates on Tuesday evening at the Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia.