J.D. Vance said it would be a ‘national scandal’ if the whistleblower claim is true that ABC News gave Vice President Kamala Harris a leg up in her debate against Donald Trump earlier this month.
The Ohio senator told DailyMail.com, however, that he will still participate in his upcoming debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz hosted by CBS – even if he thinks it won’t be a fair showdown.
An affidavit citing a whistleblower claims that the hosting network provided questions to Harris ahead of the debate on September 10 and agreed to a series of preconditions.
‘If it happened, it’s disgraceful,’ Vance said when speaking under the wing of Trump Force Two in Michigan on Tuesday. ‘It should be a national scandal.’
Ohio Sen. Tim Walz told DailyMail.com that he will still participate in his debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz next month even if he thinks it won’t be a fair showdown
Vance is set for a face-off with Harris’ running mate on October 1 in a debate hosted by CBS News in New York City.
But even if the network cheats and leaks information to Gov. Walz, Vance is committed to the debate.
‘You know, on my own debate, the attitude that I take – and I know President Trump takes – is we should go anywhere, we should talk to everybody,’ Vance told DailyMail.com.
‘And if that means that there’s going to be a slightly biased debate, I don’t care,’ he added. ‘That’s the price of doing business.’
‘And if that means that there’s going to be a slightly biased debate, I don’t care,’ he added
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance speaks during a campaign stop at Apple Valley Events in Sparta, Michigan, on Tuesday
Vance was in Sparta, Michigan on Tuesday for a rally at a barn where he aired the campaign’s grievances about the ongoing Democratic rhetoric leading to another assassination attempt on Trump over the weekend.
He told reporters on the tarmac in Sparta that the main issue with Democrats is that they keep calling Trump a ‘threat to democracy.’
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did so again on Tuesday.
Democrats ‘haven’t learned a damn thing’ he said at his rally with a few hundred MAGA supporters in the key swing state.
‘I think it’s time to say to the Democrats… cut it out or you’re going to get somebody killed,’ the Republican vice presidential candidate said in his remarks.
Vance will debate Walz in their one and only showdown on October 1. It will be moderated by CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan.
The ABC News whistleblower document in question is allegedly a sworn statement penned by a staffer at the network. It was first published Sunday by an X account with the name ‘Black Insurrectionist.’
The unverified document, said to be a sworn affidavit signed by a notary public on September 9, has sparked controversy as it has spread online
Pictured are some of the purported agreements reached by the two parties
The document, said to be a sworn affidavit signed by a notary public the day before the debate, says the network gave Harris questions ahead of time while agreeing to a series of other preconditions to give the vice president an advantage over Trump.
Prohibited at the debate were inquiries about Harris’ stint as California Attorney General, as well as any questions involving her brother-in-law, Tony West, according to claims made in the document.
It includes several other stipulations, as well as redactions protecting the whistleblower’s identity.
‘ABC News followed the debate rules that both campaigns agreed on… No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates,’ the network said in a statement where it did not address the specific claims.
The whistleblower said in the affidavit: ‘I have worked for ABC news for over 10 years in various technical and administrative positions.
The alleged staffer, who says they do not support Donald Trump, claims they ‘observed significant transformations in the nature of news reporting at the organization’ within that span, as well as a ‘shift from unbiased reporting to a model influenced by external factors.’
They state the intent of the affidavit is solely to ‘address concerns regarding perceived biases within news reporting within my employer’s debate.’
