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CBS anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan are moderating the first and only 2024 vice presidential debate between Democrat Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Sen. JD Vance.
In the first half of the debate, CBS News producers muted the candidates’ microphones during a back-and-forth over immigration. Vance objected to Brennan noting that Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio, are in the United States legally, saying, “The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact check.”
After some cross-talk between Walz, Vance and the moderators as they attempted to move on to the economy, the candidates’ microphones were muted.
“Gentlemen, the audience can’t hear you because the mics are cut,” Brennan said.
At the beginning of the debate, former President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social network that the moderators, whom he called “young ladies,” were “extremely biased anchors.”
“Margaret Brennan just lied again about the ILLEGAL MIGRANTS let into our Country by Lyin’ Kamala Harris, and then she cut off JD’s mic to stop him from correcting her!,” he later posted.
Both candidates agreed to have microphones on for the duration of the debate, unlike the previous two presidential debates when candidates’ microphones were muted when they were not speaking. CBS News had previously said it “reserves the right” to mute candidates’ microphones if they go over time. The 90-minute debate has no live audience.
O’Donnell has been the anchor and managing editor of “CBS Evening News” since 2019. She’s currently the only woman to anchor an evening news show on broadcast television. O’Donnell also anchors CBS News Election Specials and is a contributing correspondent to “60 Minutes.” After the election, O’Donnell plans to step down from the anchor chair to become a senior correspondent for the network.
Brennan is the moderator of “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” CBS News’ flagship Sunday morning news show. Brennan, who took on that role in 2018, is the second woman to host the show after Lesley Stahl. Brennan is also the network’s chief foreign affairs correspondent and a contributing correspondent to “60 Minutes.”
O’Donnell previously co-hosted “CBS This Morning” and covered the Obama administration for CBS News. Brennan, who has a background in financial and national security reporting, has covered the White House and State Department for the network.
Both regularly interview top U.S. political figures and world leaders. Earlier this year, O’Donnell landed an exclusive sit-down interview with Pope Francis , the first time a Pope has sat for a one-on-one interview with an American broadcast journalist.
How to watch Tuesday’s debate
- Time: 9 pm to 10:30 pm ET
- Moderators: Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan
- Where to watch: The CBS-hosted debate is airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount + and CBS News’ YouTube Channel. Other networks, including ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox News and PBS are also carrying the debate.
O’Donnell is writing “a female-focused retelling of American history” that centers “women who have been forgotten, marginalized, or deliberately erased from our country’s narrative,” set to publish in 2026, according to publisher Ballantine.
The vice presidential debate is set to be the only one moderated by two women. CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper moderated the June 27 debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. After Biden dropped out and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris, David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC News moderated the September 10 debate between Trump and Harris.
DPAN TV, an online platform that works to improve media accessibility for deaf people, will provide live American Sign Language interpretation of the debate, something it was unable to do during the presidential debates due to a lack of financial support. Ahead of the first such debate on June 27, between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, 90 disability organizations signed a letter calling on the host, CNN, to provide or support sign language interpretation, to no avail.
Viewers watching the debate on CBS will be able to scan a QR code on their screens that will provide a link to live fact-checking by CBS News journalists.
Sara Luterman contributed reporting.
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