Politics in 2024 felt like a fever dream that just wouldn't quit. Between the sudden candidate swaps and the relentless 24-hour news cycle, keeping track of the vice presidential debate schedule 2024 was surprisingly tricky for a lot of folks.
Honestly, most of the confusion came from the fact that the original plan—the one set by the Commission on Presidential Debates—basically blew up. By the time we actually got a date on the calendar, the usual rules were out the window.
The one and only: October 1, 2024
There was only one. Just one night where we saw the two running mates go head-to-head.
It happened on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. If you were looking for a series of rounds or a "rematch," you were out of luck. Unlike the primary season where debates seem to happen every other week, the general election cycle for the VPs was a "one-and-done" affair.
The showdown took place at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. No fancy college campus backdrop this time. Just a sterile, high-tech studio in the heart of Manhattan. It started at 9:00 p.m. ET and ran for exactly 90 minutes.
Who actually showed up?
- JD Vance: The Republican Senator from Ohio.
- Tim Walz: The Democratic Governor of Minnesota.
You've probably heard a million different opinions on who "won," but the logistics were the only thing everyone could agree on. CBS News hosted the event, and they tapped Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan to moderate.
It was a weird vibe. No audience. No cheers. Just the hum of studio lights and the sound of two guys trying very hard to sound like the most reasonable person in the room.
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Why the schedule kept shifting
The vice presidential debate schedule 2024 didn't just fall into place. It was a game of chicken.
Back in the spring, nobody even knew who the Democratic VP nominee would be because Joe Biden was still at the top of the ticket. Once Kamala Harris stepped up and picked Tim Walz in August, the clock started ticking.
Vance was actually pushing for more than one debate. He told anyone who would listen that he’d show up for a CNN debate on September 18 too. But the Harris-Walz camp wasn't having it. They staked their claim on the October 1 date and basically said, "Take it or leave it."
In the end, October 1 was the only date that stuck.
What happened behind the scenes (The Rules)
The rules for this specific date were a bit of a departure from the presidential debates that came before it.
First off, the microphones. In the Trump-Harris debate, the mics were muted when it wasn't a candidate's turn to speak. For the VP debate, CBS decided to keep the mics hot. They reserved the right to mute them if things got out of hand, but for the most part, the candidates could theoretically talk over each other.
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Surprisingly, they didn't. It was probably the most polite 90 minutes of the entire 2024 cycle.
They also had to stand. This was the first time since 2008 that the VP candidates weren't sitting around a table like they were at a dinner party. They stood behind lecterns, which definitely changed the energy of the room.
A quick breakdown of the timing:
- Opening: No opening statements. They went straight into the first question about the Middle East.
- Responses: Each candidate got two minutes to answer a direct question.
- Rebuttals: Two minutes for the other guy to respond.
- Closing: Each candidate got two minutes at the very end to make their final pitch.
What the debate actually covered
If you missed the live broadcast, you didn't just miss a schedule—you missed a massive policy dump.
The moderators didn't pull punches on the topics. They hit everything from the Iranian missile attack on Israel (which had happened earlier that same day) to Hurricane Helene.
Climate change was a huge sticking point. Vance was asked about Trump’s "hoax" comments, and he pivoted to talking about American manufacturing. Walz, on the other hand, leaned hard into the Biden-Harris administration's green energy investments.
Immigration got spicy, too. This was the moment where the moderators actually stepped in. When Vance started talking about legal status for Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, Margaret Brennan offered a quick "clarification" that many of them had legal status. Vance wasn't happy. He pointed out that the rules said the moderators weren't supposed to be fact-checking him live.
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It was the only moment where the "polite" veneer sort of cracked.
How to find the footage now
Since the vice presidential debate schedule 2024 is now a matter of historical record, you can find the full transcript and video pretty easily.
CBS News has the full 90-minute replay on their YouTube channel. Most major networks like PBS NewsHour and ABC News also kept their live streams up for archival purposes.
If you're a policy nerd, reading the transcript is actually better than watching the video. You can see exactly how many times each candidate dodged a question—like when Walz was asked about his past comments regarding being in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests, or when Vance was asked if Trump lost the 2020 election.
Actionable insights for the next cycle
Looking back at how the vice presidential debate schedule 2024 played out, there are a few things voters should keep in mind for future elections:
- Don't trust the early dates: The Commission on Presidential Debates is no longer the "boss" of the schedule. Individual campaigns and networks now negotiate these dates directly.
- Watch the "Host" network: The rules change depending on who is airing the debate. CNN might mute mics, while CBS might keep them hot. These small technical choices change how candidates behave.
- VPs matter more than you think: While the VP debate rarely swings the polls by more than a point or two, it’s often the only time you see the "bench" of a political party perform under pressure.
The 2024 schedule proved that the tradition of three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate is officially dead. Moving forward, expect more chaos, more last-minute negotiations, and probably fewer total debates overall.
If you want to stay informed for 2028, start looking at the schedule about 60 days before the election—that's usually when the real deals are cut.