by Ben Whedon
During Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, both candidates politely stood their ground, although several awkward moments from Gov. Tim Walz, R-Minn., and moderators sparring with Sen. J.D. Vance, D-Ohio, drew significant attention.
The debate, moderated by Margaret Brennan and CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, was the only planned confrontation between Vance and Walz in the 2024 election cycle. Both participants largely responded to the moderators’ questions, and for a few moments they both expressed their agreement in a polite exchange.
But the moderators’ spotty fact-checking efforts against Vance largely overshadowed the exchange of political views between him and Walz, who made several awkward gaffes. However, neither candidate landed a significant hit on the other.
Still, interviewers Frank Luntz he pointed out that his focus group ultimately broke 12-2 in Vance’s favor, with only five leaning Republican at the start of the debate.
Walz’s gaffes
Discussing gun violence, Walz explained his past opposition to an assault weapons ban and why he changed his position to support it. In return, he said his change came after meeting with families of school shooting victims, but awkwardly said, “I became friends with school shooters” in an obvious gaffe.
“Sometimes it’s all about the gun,” Walz continued. “It’s just a weapon. There are things you can do about it, but I think it’s a healthy conversation. I think it is possible to find effective solutions in this area. Protect the Second Amendment, protect our children. This is our priority.”
At a separate point, moderators pressed Walz to confirm his earlier claims that he was in Hong Kong amidst The Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. Local newspaper reports in Nebraska, however, indicate that Walz left for Hong Kong only after the protests ended.
Walz did not address the discrepancy, but stated, “I’m a jerk sometimes” and admitted that “I get sucked into this rhetoric,” before going on to advocate his support for his local community.
“The point was always that the same people elected me to Congress for 12 years, and in Congress I was one of the most bipartisan people working on things like the farm bills, which we drafted, working on veterans benefits, and then the people of Minnesota elected twice me for governor,” he said.
Fact checks
In the debate, the moderators also tried to do this check your facts, Vanceleading to a tense exchange when he dismissed their comment. While it wasn’t as intense and violent as the spotty fact-checking against former GOP President Donald Trump that accompanied the presidential debate on ABC News, moderators were generally uneven in their incursions against Vance.
In one conversation, Brennan intervened, referring to the influx of Haitian immigrants into Springfield, Ohio, saying, “to clarify for our viewers that there are a large number of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio who have legal, temporary and protected status. “
Vance began to object to Brennan’s intrusion.
“Margaret, the rules were that you weren’t going to fact-check, and since you’re the one who’s fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on,” he said, before explaining what he called “facilitating illegal immigration.”
“So there is an app called CBP One where you can remain an illegal immigrant, apply for asylum or parole and get legal status on the wave [Vice President] Kamala Harris’ open edge wand,” he said. “This is not someone coming in, applying for a green card and waiting 10 years, this is facilitating illegal immigration, Margaret, by our own leadership.”
Brennan then replied sarcastically, “Thank you, Senator, for describing the legal process.” The remark drew a rebuke from Trump, who chastised her on Truth Social for cutting off Vance’s microphone to prevent him from reacting.
At another point, one moderator pressed Walz to respond to Vance’s claims about fentanyl trafficking and using children as drug mules, but he apparently misquoted him, claiming that Harris was “dropping fentanyl and using children as drug mules.”
“I didn’t accuse Harris of inviting drug mules,” Vance countered. “I said she has allowed Mexican drug cartels to operate freely in this country and we know they are using children as drug mules, it is a disgrace and it must stop.”
Selection of questions
In the debate, moderators largely sidestepped a number of key policy issues, such as energy, as Vance noted in his closing arguments.
For example, Iran received only one question just hours after the country fired a salvo of missiles against Israel. Both candidates were pressured over their potential support for a pre-emptive strike on Iran, although foreign policy was largely left untouched.
Issues disproportionately essential to Democrats dominated the debate, including abortion policy and climate change. Housing costs and inflation also played a role.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News.
