Vice presidential nominees Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are set to participate in the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle on Oct. 1 in New York City. The debate will be moderated by CBS News’s Margaret Brennan and Norah O’Donnell, making them the first female duo to moderate a vice presidential debate.
O’Donnell has been with CBS News since 2011, previously serving at NBC News from 1999 to 2011 in various correspondent and anchor roles. Upon joining CBS, she held positions such as chief White House correspondent and fill-in anchor for the “CBS Evening News” and “Face the Nation.” She has also worked as a correspondent for ”60 Minutes” and conducted interviews with notable figures including Pope Francis, former President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the Dalai Lama.
Brennan joined CBS News in July 2012 after working at Bloomberg Television as an anchor and CNBC as a producer and correspondent. Prior to becoming the anchor of CBS’s flagship Sunday news program, she covered the White House beat. Brennan has interviewed prominent individuals such as President Joe Biden, Haley, Vance himself along with former Secretaries of State John Kerry and Mike Pompeo.
The upcoming debate featuring O’Donnell and Brennan comes shortly after criticism was directed towards moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis following a presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris—the respective GOP nominee for president—due to alleged bias against Trump.
Experts have weighed in on what makes a good moderator for debates like these: asking relevant questions that most Americans want answered while ensuring candidates adhere to time limits is crucial according to Steven Fein from Williams College; Andrew Selepak from University of Florida emphasizes that moderators should remain neutral rather than seeking attention; Tim Graham from Media Research Center suggests that fact-checking should not be done by moderators since other media outlets already do so.
ABC News declined comment when approached by The Epoch Times regarding their previous debate moderation practices while CBS did not respond to interview requests for O’Donnell or Brennan.
