Republican Sen. J.D. Vance and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz clashed Tuesday on everything from economic policy and gun policy to immigration and school shootings in the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 election. did.
The Ohio senator and Minnesota’s governor have generally had a cordial personal relationship, and have at times appeared to get along, even saying they could work together. However, they repeatedly attacked each other’s vice presidential candidates and defended their party’s policies and members.
The debate, hosted by CBS News in New York City, may be the last event for candidates from both sides, with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump not currently scheduled to debate again. be.
Here are five key takeaways from this discussion.
It wasn’t really about Vance or Waltz
It quickly became clear that the two prominent politicians who took to the stage were simply surrogates for their vice presidential candidates, using the questions as a means to attack their top rivals and often taking personal shots at each other. I was trying not to attack.
Walz directed his first question about Iran’s attack on Israel to President Trump’s age, saying, “Donald Trump, who is almost 80 years old, talking about crowd size is not what we need at this point.” said. He went on to attack “the capricious leadership of Donald Trump” around the world.
Vance replied: “Who has been your Vice President for the past three and a half years? And the answer is your Vice President, not mine. Donald Trump has consistently made the world safer. .”
In the next section, Walz criticized Trump again on climate change. “Donald Trump called it a hoax and then joked that these things would make waterfront real estate more investable.”
On immigration, Vance sidestepped a question about how President Trump would carry out his promise of mass deportations, saying, “I’ve been to the southern border more than border czar Kamala Harris.” ” he repeatedly attacked Harris.
Notably, both men said they believed their on-stage rivals wanted to resolve border issues and other areas of policy disagreement.
“I think Sen. Vance wants to solve this problem, but he ends up siding with Donald Trump and making that the focus of the discussion instead of working together to find a solution,” Walz said. said.
Vance replied: I think you want to fix this problem, but I don’t think Kamala Harris would. ”
Tensions between the two sides peaked toward the end, when Walz pointedly asked Vance whether Trump lost the 2020 election. Mr. Vance did not give a definitive answer, instead directing questions back to Mr. Walz about Facebook’s censorship regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
Waltz admits he made a big mistake with the Tiananmen story
Waltz answered nervously at first, then got into a rhythm. But he stumbled several times when asked about falsely claiming to have visited Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989, when Minnesota Public Radio reported that he actually visited Hong Kong later that year. He was believed to have been in Hong Kong.
Walz dodged the question at first. “I wasn’t perfect, and sometimes my fingers get crooked,” he said, before giving a long, meandering answer about his upbringing and expressing his dedication to Minnesotans throughout his career.
When the host followed up, Walz admitted, “When I got there that summer, I made a mistake in what I said.”
Questions probing past statements are common for national political candidates, but Walz has largely avoided media interviews and hasn’t answered many questions since becoming the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee.
Vance defends his flip over past criticism of Trump
Vance was asked to explain his past criticisms of Trump, including remarks that Trump could become “America’s Hitler” and criticism of Trump’s economic performance as president. , was fully prepared to answer.
“Of course, I disagree with the president sometimes, but I’ve also been very open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump. First of all, I was wrong about… “He believed some media articles that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record,” Vance said, overstepping territory he and his campaign have talked about in responding to media interviews and articles. Ta.
Vance continued. “But most importantly, Donald Trump delivered for the American people: higher wages, more take-home pay, an economy that works for ordinary Americans, and a secure southern border.” .When you mess up, when you say the wrong thing, when you mess up, when you do something wrong and change your mind, you have to be honest with the American people.”
He also partially blamed Congress, saying “a lot of things happened with the border and tariffs,” adding, “If Congressional Republicans and Democrats in Congress had done a little bit better about how they govern the country, a lot more could have been done. I could have done it,” he said. ”
Walz and Vance examine running mate’s financial records
The poll, which asks voters who they trust more to handle the issue, said Walz has made arguments attacking President Trump on the economy, one of the most important issues for Republican candidates. I had it ready.
“Kamala Harris’ first day was about Donald Trump’s failure to manage the coronavirus, which led to the collapse of our economy. Our country was already in a manufacturing recession before COVID-19. “About 10 million people are unemployed, the highest rate since the Great Depression,” Walz said. Said.
Mr. Vance attacked Mr. Biden and Mr. Harris’ economic record as “terrible” and defended Mr. Trump.
“Honestly, Tim, I think you got a tough job here because you had to play whack-a-mole,” he said, adding that Walz believes the Trump economy has improved wages. and blamed the government for having to “pretend” that inflation was falling.
Walz also attacked Trump on taxes and trade policy.
“If you’re listening tonight and you want to give tax cuts to billionaires, Trump is your candidate,” Walz told voters as he looked at his television screen. “How is it fair that you all pay taxes every year and Donald Trump hasn’t paid any federal taxes for the past 15 years?”
Vance’s revisionist history of President Trump’s push to repeal Obamacare
Mr. Vance rewrote the history of President Trump’s years of efforts to destroy the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and instead repeated his campaign’s claim that Trump saved Obamacare.
“Donald Trump could have destroyed the program. Instead, when asked about what he said he had a “vision for a plan” to replace the 2010 health care law, Trump said he would have made it easier for Americans to get affordable health care. We worked on a bipartisan basis to ensure that people have access to health care,” Vance said.
That claim distorts the facts. As president, Trump worked partisanly with Republicans to destroy the ACA, supporting legislation that would have repealed the law’s insurance subsidies and ban on high bills for people with pre-existing conditions. The push fell one vote short in the Senate. He used executive action to cut funding for programs that let people register for coverage on the law’s marketplace. He also asked the Supreme Court to wipe out the ACA completely in 2020, but the case failed.
