Donald Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance and Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz went head-to-head in a high stakes vice presidential debate on Tuesday night just 35 days before the 2024 election.
It was the first time Vance and Walz came face-to-face on the debate stage as some voters have already cast ballots across the country for what could be one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history.
The debate was hosted by CBS News in New York City and moderated by anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan. It lasted nearly two hours with two breaks.
J.D. Vance and Tim Walz faced off on the debate stage on Tuesday night where they clashed on the issues, defended shifting stances and promoted their running mates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris
During the showdown, the Ohio senator and Minnesota governor faced tough questions about where they stand on the issues as they could be first in line for the presidency if elected in November.
They were also pressed on how they have flip-flopped and presented themselves in past comments. Both nominees were also called on to defend their running mates Trump and Harris.
The debate remained largely civil with the candidates sparring over policy rather than lobbing personal attacks in what is likely to be their only showdown.
Here are the big takeaways from the vice presidential debate:
Walz calls himself a ‘knucklehead’ who ‘misspoke’
Tim Walz was pressed on having claimed he was in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 when media outlets are now reporting he was not. It is the latest in a series of false comments the Democratic governor has made about his past.
First, Walz pivoted to talking about his upbringing in rural Nebraska and becoming a teacher who traveled to China.
Walz is pressed on the discrepancy after he previously claimed he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre
‘I have poured my heart into my community. I’ve tried to do the best I can, but I’ve not been perfect, and I’m a knucklehead at times, but its always been about that,’ Walz said.
Brennan followed up and asked him to clarify the discrepancy again.
‘I got there that summer and misspoke on this,’ Walz said. ‘So I will just – that’s what I said. So I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests.’
Vance refuses to say if he’d challenge election results
Moderators pointed out that J.D. Vance has previously said he would not have certified the last election and pressed him on whether he would challenge the 2024 election results.
Vance sidestepped the question at first by focusing on issues he wants to talk about. But he turned back to the topic and downplayed Trump’s role on January 6.
He said Trump believed there were problems with the last election but defended the ex-president’s response. He then argued the real threat to democracy is censorship.
Vance downplayed Trump’s role on January 6 when asked whether he would challenge the election results
Walz called it troubling.
‘The democracy is bigger than winning an election,’ Walz said. ‘You shake hands and then you try and do everything you can to help the other side win.’
The governor added that when this election is over ‘we need to shake hands’ and ‘the winner needs to be the winner.’
When Walz asked Vance directly if Trump lost the 2020 election, Vance responded: ‘Tim, I’m focused on the future.’
‘That is a damning non-answer,’ Walz replied.
Walz stumbles at first but grows more comfortable
The Minnesota governor was visibly nervous starting off the debate which began with questions about foreign policy as the crisis in the Middle East escalates. Vance was much more polished in his responses.
Walz repeatedly called Trump ‘fickle’ as he attempted to paint him as unsteady in his leadership and old at ‘nearly eighty.’ He also blasted Trump’s tweeting, but he largely avoided addressing the crisis right out of the gate in a focused way.
But as the debate went on, Walz grew more comfortable in his answers. Later, his responses became more direct on the issues and his pace steadied.
He still faced a few missteps. When he was talking about preventing school shootings and gun laws, the former school teacher appeared to misspeak when he first said he sat with school shooting victim families but then also said became ‘friends with school shooters.’
Trump has seized on the remark on social media, so it is likely to continue coming up with the GOP nominee.
J.D. Vance gets fact-checked
Trump’s running mate ended up being fact-checked by moderators during the debate even though CBS News signaled it would not be fact checking the candidates.
The debate was moderated by CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell (left) and Margaret Brennan (right). At one point, Brennan fact-checked Vance on Haitian migrants’ immigration status prompting an angry response from the GOP vice presidential nominee
Brennan fact-checked Vance, noting that the Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio are in the country legally.
That prompted an angry response Vance and ended with candidates’ mics getting cut.
During a back-and-forth on immigration, Vance talked about how the Haitians were overwhelming resources in the Ohio community.
‘Thank you governor, and just to clarify, for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status,’ Brennan inserted.
‘Thank you, Margaret. The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check and since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on,’ Vance said.
When Vance and Walz kept speaking on the subject, their mics were cut.
Vance and Walz had a civil debate
Vance and Walz had a largely civilized and substantive debate about policies ranging from immigration to health care, the economy and taxes, abortion rights and more.
Right off the bat, both candidates shook hands before the debate even started. It was different from when Harris had to walk over and address Trump at the top of their presidential debate last month.
During the debate, both candidates even acknowledged their agreement at times.
In a focus group on CNN afterwards, one undecided voter called it an unexpectedly ‘warm and fuzzy’ debate.
Vance and Walz shook hands at the top of the debate as well as at the end of the debate and were even complementary to each other at times while having some tense exchanges on issues
Usha Vance and Gwen Walz join their husbands on stage after the vice presidential debate
After the showdown, the candidates chatted cordially with each other and their wives both took the stage to greet each other as well.
On the issues, they sometimes spoke over each other and at other times avoided answering the questions directly, but they largely responded about the topics presented in the questions.
Donald Trump makes the debate about him
Former President Donald Trump was posting on Truth Social throughout the vice presidential debate, responding to direct attacks and candidates’ comments.
‘EVERYONE KNOWS I WOULD NOT SUPPORT A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, AND WOULD, IN FACT, VETO IT, BECAUSE IT IS UP TO THE STATES TO DECIDE BASED ON THE WILL OF THEIR VOTERS (THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE!),’ Trump wrote in one post.
‘LIKE RONALD REAGAN BEFORE ME, I FULLY SUPPORT THE THREE EXCEPTIONS FOR RAPE, INCEST, AND THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER,’ he went on.
He even added ‘THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!’
