Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance clashed Tuesday at a vice presidential debate that was surprisingly civil in the final stretch of an ugly election campaign marred by inflammatory rhetoric and two assassination attempts.
The two rivals, who have forcefully attacked each other on the campaign trail, mostly struck a cordial tone, saving their fire for the candidates at the top of their tickets: Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.
The most tense exchange occurred near the end of the debate when Vance—who has said he would not have voted to certify the results of the 2020 election—avoided a question about whether he would challenge this year's vote if Trump loses.
Walz responded by blaming Trump’s false claims of voter fraud for instigating the Jan. 6, 2021, mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol in an unsuccessful effort to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election.
"He is still saying he didn't lose the election," Walz said, turning to Vance. "Did he lose the 2020 election?"
Vance sidestepped the question again, instead accusing Harris of pursuing online censorship of opposing viewpoints.
Walz, 60, the liberal governor of Minnesota and a former high school teacher, and Vance, 40, a bestselling author and conservative firebrand U.S. senator from Ohio, have portrayed themselves as two sons of America's Midwestern heartland with deeply opposing views on the issues gripping the country.
The rivals each sought to land a lasting blow in the last remaining debate before the Nov. 5 presidential election, arguing over the Middle East crisis, immigration, taxes, abortion, climate change, and the economy.
By and large, the two men appeared intent on demonstrating "Midwestern nice," thanking each other even while they went after their respective running mates in the traditional attack-dog role for vice presidential candidates.
Vance questioned why Harris had not done more to address inflation, immigration, and the economy while serving in Biden’s administration, mounting a consistent attack line that Trump often failed to deliver while debating Harris last month.
"If Kamala Harris has such great plans for how to address middle-class problems, then she ought to do them now—not when asking for a promotion, but in the job the American people gave her 3-1/2 years ago," Vance said.
Walz described Trump as an unstable leader who prioritized billionaires and turned Vance's criticism on its head regarding immigration, attacking Trump for pressuring Republicans in Congress to abandon a bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.
"Most of us want to solve this," Walz said of immigration. "Donald Trump had four years to do this, and he promised you, Americans, how easy it will be."
The night's tone was a far cry from the divisiveness that has characterized the campaign. Trump has repeatedly denigrated Harris, including racist and sexist attacks, and twice escaped attempts on his life. Walz had previously called his Republican opponents "weird," and Vance came under fire for past comments disparaging some Democrats as "childless cat ladies."
The debate at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York began with the escalating crisis in the Middle East after Israel continued its assault on southern Lebanon on Tuesday, and Iran mounted retaliatory missile strikes against Israel.
Walz said Trump is too "fickle" and sympathetic to strongmen to be trusted to handle the growing conflict, while Vance asserted that Trump made the world more secure during his term.
Asked whether he would support a preemptive strike against Iran by Israel, Vance suggested he would defer to Israel's judgment, while Walz did not directly answer the question.
Trump, watching on television, was posting furiously during the debate—sometimes twice a minute—on his Truth Social site, attacking the CBS moderators and calling Walz "pathetic" and "low IQ."
Political analysts say vice presidential debates generally do not alter the outcome of an election. That said, even a slight shift in public opinion could prove decisive with the race on a razor's edge five weeks before Election Day.
Walz was asked about a report this week stating he was not in China during the violent 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, as he had previously claimed.
"I'm a knucklehead at times," he said during a meandering answer. "I got there that summer and misspoke on this. So I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests, and from that, I learned a lot about what it means to be in governance."
Vance, meanwhile, defended his running mate despite having criticized Trump ahead of the 2016 election.
"I was wrong about Donald Trump," he said. "I was wrong, first of all, because I believed some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record. But most importantly, Donald Trump delivered for the American people."
Walz also criticized Trump for his role in appointing three U.S. Supreme Court justices who joined the court's decision to eliminate a nearly half-century nationwide right to abortion, an issue that has proven damaging to Republicans.
Reuters