For the first and likely only time, the two people vying to become the next vice president of the United States are set to face off.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance will debate one another this Wednesday morning (AEST) in a CBS-hosted event in New York City.
Here's everything you need to know about the debate — from the candidates to how to catch it live.
Who are the candidates?
Both Vance and Walz are military veterans with strong blue-collar credentials, with Vance known as the author of the Rust Belt memoir Hillbilly Elegy and Walz boasting a folksy persona as a former teacher and football coach.
Vance, who at 40 would be one of the youngest vice presidents in US history if elected, was a vocal critic of Trump during the 2016 election, saying he "never liked him" and that Trump was "leading the white working class to a very dark place".
He publicly apologised for those remarks after entering the US Senate race in 2021, was endorsed by Trump in 2022, and Vance has represented Ohio in the US Senate since January 2023.
Vance supports tough immigration policies, and has been vocal on abortion, saying the issue should be left up to the states.
He has been criticised for referring to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and other Democrats in 2021 as a , and more recently, for that Haitian migrants in the Ohio city of Springfield were eating pets.
JD Vance was once a vocal critic of Donald Trump. Source: Getty, AFP / Jim Watson
As governor, he has pushed a progressive agenda including free school meals, tax cuts for the middle class and expanded paid leave for Minnesota workers.
Walz, also a former high school teacher and football coach, has dismissed Trump and Vance as "creepy" and "weird" — a takedown that spread widely among Democrats.
What might come up during the debate?
Walz has linked Vance to a set of conservative policy proposals known as , from which Trump has tried to distance himself — and the Democratic vice presidential candidate may needle him further on Wednesday.
During the debate, Walz could also reiterate his scepticism of Vance's Midwestern everyman image. He has derided Vance's 2016 memoir for its depiction of rural America.
"Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community," Walz said at his first rally as Harris' vice presidential pick.
Kamala Harris announced Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate in August. Source: Getty / Anna Moneymaker
Vance, who served in the Marine Corps and was a public affairs officer during a six-month stint in Iraq, has accused Walz of leaving the Army National Guard to avoid being deployed to Iraq, and falsely suggesting he served in combat.
Walz, who served in the Guard for 24 years, retired to run for Congress. He has defended his record, but the Harris campaign has acknowledged he misspoke in a 2018 video in which he referenced "weapons of war that I carried into war." Walz never served in a combat zone.
What are the debate's rules?
As with , there will be no studio audience.
Candidates will stand behind lecterns for the duration of the debate. No props or pre-written notes will be allowed on stage. Unlike Trump's debates with Biden and Harris, candidates' microphones will not be automatically muted when their opponent is speaking.
However, broadcaster CBS News said it reserves the right to turn off candidate microphones.
How can I watch the vice presidential debate?
You can watch CBS News' live coverage of the debate on SBS and on Wednesday 2 October at 11am (AEST).
The broadcast will be available to stream free on SBS On Demand for a week after the event.
With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
