Who will moderate the vice presidential debate?
A look at the moderation team for the vice presidential debate between Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz.
On Tuesday, October 1, at 9:00 pm ET, the two vice presidential nominees, the Democratic Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz and Republican Senator of Ohio J.D. Vance, will face off in a televised debate hosted by CBS News. With no more presidential debates on the books, the VP debate could be one of the largest audiences campaigns have before election day. Both campaigns have been speaking publically about how they are prepping their candidates and theorizing about the approach the other camp will take. Many voters find debates that turn personal and lack focus on the issues frustrating.
Traditionally, the VP debate focuses on the party’s foreign policy, and Tuesday’s event is expected to be no different. CBS has brought in two veteran network journalists, Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan.
A look at the event’s hosts
O’Donnell currently anchors CBS Evening News and serves as the program’s Managing Editor. Tuesday’s event will be the eighth major debate moderated by O’Donnell. In 2020, she moderated the same debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence. O’Donnell has been with CBS since 2011 and, before joining the network, worked for NBC News and MSNBC. She attended Georgetown University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and a master’s in Liberal Studies.
Margaret Brennan has hosted Face the Nation since 2018 and serves as CBS’s foreign affairs correspondent. Brennan joined the network in 2012, shortly after her co-moderator. She has worked in different roles in the newsroom, starting as a producer for the CNBC show Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street and Street Signs with Ron Insana. In 2009, she left CNBC for Bloomberg Television to host her own show, InBusiness with Margaret Brennan, which focused on global markets and politics. At CBS, she started as a correspondent before being tapped to host Face the Nation. Before entering the world of news, Brennan attended the University of Virginia, where she earned a degree in foreign affairs and Middle Eastern studies.