WASHINGTON — Tim Walz and JD Vance on Tuesday went after each other's running mates in a vice presidential debate that opened with a discussion of burgeoning domestic and international troubles — a hurricane that ravaged much of the southeast U.S. and growing fears of a regional Middle East war.
Both Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, and Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, focused many of their largely cordial attack lines on the top of the ticket, as is traditional for VP debates. They each pointed to the crises of the day as reasons for voters to choose Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump.
The debate unfolded in the final weeks of a campaign that has been defined by harsh, personal attacks and historic convulsions, including a candidate dropping out and two attempted assassinations. Polls have shown Harris and Trump locked in a close contest as early voting begins across the country, giving added weight to anything that can sway voters on the margins, including the impression left by the vice presidential candidates.
The heated tone of the campaign was mostly replaced by deep policy discussions, with the candidates sometimes saying they agreed with each other — even as they outlined vastly different visions about the future of the country.
In one raw moment when Walz said his teenage son had witnessed a shooting at a community center, Vance expressed empathy.
“I’m sorry about that. Christ have mercy,” Vance said.
“I appreciate that,” Walz said.
The former president, who sought the spotlight himself Tuesday by posting live commentary online during the debate, was a central focus as both Walz and Vance argued over whether Americans should return him to the Oval Office.
Walz depicted Trump as wrong on the issues and a chaotic leader. Vance rebuffed him with every answer and made the case for the man he once heavily criticized.
“What’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter,” said Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, said in response to a question about the situation unfolding in the Middle East. "And the world saw it on that debate stage a few weeks ago, a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need in this moment.”
Vance, in his reply, argued that Trump is an intimidating figure whose presence on the international stage is its own deterrent.
“Gov. Walz can criticize Donald Trump’s tweets, but effective smart diplomacy and peace through strength is how you bring stability back to a very broken world,” he said.
A sharper turn on immigration
The debate in New York hosted by CBS News opened with a sober tone that reflected growing domestic and international concerns about safety and security. But it gave way to sharper attacks from both Walz and Vance — and a moment in which the moderators stopped the discussion by cutting the two men's mics.
Walz accused Vance and Trump of villainizing legal immigrants in Vance’s home state. He pointed to the fact that Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had to send in extra law enforcement to provide security to the city’s schools after Vance tweeted about and Trump amplified false claims about Haitians eating pets.
“This is what happens when you don’t want to solve it, you demonize it,” Walz said, saying not doing so would allow people to “come together.”
Vance said the 15,000 Haitians in the city had caused housing, economic and other issues that the Biden-Harris administration was ignoring.
When the debate moderators pointed out that the Haitians living there had legal status, Vance protested that CBS News had said its moderators would not be fact-checking, leaving the onus to the candidates. As Vance continued and the moderators tried to move on, his microphone was cut and neither man could be heard.
A return to cordiality on the debate stage
The two Midwesterners struck a noticeably friendlier tone than the matchup between Trump and Harris — or, earlier this year, the showdown between Trump and President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race following a disastrous performance.
When they first turned to immigration and the influx of migrants coming over the U.S.-Mexico border, one of the most heated topics of the campaign, the two men credited each other with having good intentions.
“I believe Sen. Vance wants to solve this, but by standing with Donald Trump and not working together to find a solution, it becomes a talking point and when it becomes a talking point like this, we dehumanize and villainize other human beings,” Walz said.
Vance echoed the sentiment, saying, “I think you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think that Kamala Harris does.”
Walz catapulted onto Harris’ campaign by branding Trump and Republicans as “ just weird,” creating an attack line for Democrats seeking to argue Republicans are disconnected from the American people. But for almost the entire debate, he never used the word.
Vance’s occasionally confrontational interviews and appearances have underscored why Trump picked him for the Republican ticket.
Vance in particular seemed to be attempting to soften his aggressive image, ratcheting down his typically forceful delivery, referring to Walz as “Tim” and a more supple approach, saying at one point, “I know a lot of Americans don’t agree with everything that I’ve ever said on this topic.”
His efforts to explain Trump’s policies and positions with a more gentle touch were also reminiscent of how former Vice President Mike Pence often operated when he and Trump were in the White House.
The two broke over Pence’s refusal to join his efforts to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The role of a presidential running mate is typically to serve as an attack dog for the person at the top of the ticket, arguing against the opposing presidential candidate and their proxy on stage. Both Vance and Walz have embraced that role.
Vance was asked to address his past biting criticisms of the former president, including once suggesting Trump would be “America’s Hitler.”
“When you get something wrong and you change your mind, you ought to be honest with the American people,” he said Tuesday.
Walz, meanwhile, was pressed on his misleading claim, which was investigated this week by Minnesota Public Radio and other outlets, that he was in Hong Kong during the turbulence surrounding the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, part of a broader pattern of inaccuracies that Republicans hope to exploit.
Confronted with his misstatements about his travels to China years ago, Walz defended himself by saying, “I’ve not been perfect.” In fact, he said, “I’m a knucklehead at times.” Eventually, he acknowledged he misspoke about his history.