Walz, Vance face off in vice presidential debate
Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance are facing off Tuesday at 9 p.m. in the only scheduled vice presidential debate of the 2024 campaign.
Follow along with the Daily News as we provide regular updates on all the political action before, during and after the 90-minute showdown.
Live updates:
10:48 – Walz closed the debate with a tribute to his boss. He praised Vice President Harris for assembling a broad coalition to defeat Donald Trump.
“She’s bringing real solutions for the middle class,” Walz said.
In his closing remarks, Vance shifted back to his working class childhood and blamed Harris for a litany of woes, including inflation.
“Her policies have made those problems worse,” Vance said. “We need change. We need a new direction.”
10:35 – Vance sought to avoid a question about the 2020 election and defended Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
He pivoted from the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol to the supposed threat of censorship by Harris, and even got in a plug for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s endorsement of Trump.
Walz hit back at Vance for his defense of Trump and invoked the name of former Vice President Mike Pence, who was ousted from Trump’s ticket for voting to certify the results of the 2020 election.
“Mike Pence made the right decision,” Walz said. “When this is over, we need to shake hands and congratulate the winner.”
10:22 – Asked about health care policy, Vance awkwardly sought to defend Trump’s controversial claim at his debate with Harris that he has only “concepts of a health plan.”
“Of course we’re gonna cover preexisting conditions,” Vance claimed, without elaborating.
Walz hit back hard, praising Harris for increasing the number of insured people.
He also slammed Trump for repeatedly trying to repeal Obamacare and for failing to have any real answer about what he would do in a second term.
“It cracked me up because my kid would never say that,” Walz said.
10:13 – The debate sort of trailed off as Vance hit pro-Trump talking points, improbably blaming illegal immigration and lower energy production for higher housing costs.
Walz countered with a meandering statement about how public lands are mostly far away from Minneapolis. It wasn’t obvious why that issue was important.
10:05 – The candidates shared an unusually warm moment when Walz said his 17-year-old son, Gus, witnessed a shooting at a community center.
Vance said he was sorry to learn about the incident, and Walz smiled and thanked him for his concern.
Surprisingly, neither guy has lobbed too many good zingers — either at one another or at the opposing presidential candidates they’re supposed to be ripping to shreds.
9:56 – Almost an hour into the debate, Walz finally rolled out his trademark slogan to shut down Vance’s meandering claims that Republican abortion restrictions are actually “pro-family.”
“That’s why we say: Mind your own business!” Walz said.
9:48 – Walz went strongly on the offensive when asked a question about abortion rights.
He name-checked women who have suffered under Republican abortion bans in red states from coast to coast.
“That’s nobody else’s business,” Walz said. “This is basic human rights.”
Vance made an extraordinary admission by conceding that he and Trump are out of step with the nation on the right to choose abortions.
“We have to do a better job of earning American people’s trust back on this issue,” Vance said.
9:42 – Walz sought to avoid answering a question regarding accusations he lied about being in China during the Tiananmen Square protests.
After a lengthy side bar about his small-town upbringing, he conceded that he misspoke and meant to say that he was in China during the pro-democracy protests.
9:37 – Vance scored solid points by talking about the economy and praising Trump’s record during his four years in office.
He trashed Walz for approvingly quoting experts, while claiming Trump is a beacon of “common sense.”
Vance has so far come across as a confident and self-assured debater, and mostly stayed on message through the first half hour.
Walz has been trying to land punches on Trump, but his style has felt a bit scattershot.
9:29 – The mics have been cut!
Moderators cut off Vance as he tried to rattle on about immigration laws that he claimed allow undocumented immigrants to gain permission to stay in the U.S.
They moved on to a question about the economy…
9:27 – Walz took a shot at Vance for magnifying the racist lie about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
“He is vilifying and dehumanizing other human beings,” Walz said.
9:25 – Vance launched into an attack on Harris over immigration, which he claimed has led to more than 20 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
“You’ve got to stop the bleeding,” he said.
He said a future Trump-Vance administration would start by deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, but he dodged a question about whether he supports Trump’s plan for mass deportation of millions of other undocumented immigrants.
Walz mocked Trump for his “Build a wall” pledge in 2016.
“Less than 2% of the wall was built and Mexico didn’t pay a dime,” Walz said.
9:17 – In a question about the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, moderator Norah O’Donnell asked Vance to explain his stance on climate change, which Trump has downplayed or denied.
He called suggestions that greenhouse gas emissions cause global warming “weird science,” even though virtually all reputable scientists agree it is a fact.
Walz countered that Trump has derided climate change as a “hoax” and said rising sea levels would lead to “more beachfront property.”
He pivoted to a pitch for more green jobs.
Walz ended by slamming Trump for playing footsie with Big Oil execs at Mar-a-Lago.
9:07 – Walz looked a bit nervous as he started to answer a question about Iran’s attack on Israel.
He quickly pivoted to an attack on former President Trump, quoting Trump’s former White House aides as saying he was unfit for office.
The 60-year-old Minnesota governor praised Vice President Harris as a steady force on the world stage.
Vance quickly shifted gears to sketch out his inspirational biography.
He then switched to praising Trump as a hard-nosed geopolitical operator who kept peace.
9:02 p.m. – And we’re off!
Tim Walz and JD Vance shook hands before the debate started in earnest.
Earlier:
The debate, moderated by Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, is hosted by CBS News and will be aired live on that network, along with others via simulcast. There will be no studio audience for the clash held at the network’s New York studios.
Unlike the Trump-Harris debate, the microphones for Walz and Vance will remain on even when it’s not their turn to speak, meaning there could be more interruptions or shouting from one candidate or the other.
The two major party nominees are expected to trade barbs with one another as well as attack the opposing presidential candidates, the traditional role of running mates in the campaign.
It’s unknown what questions may come up, but Vance will likely be asked about his controversial stance that parents should enjoy more political power than unmarried “childless cat ladies” and racist false claims that Haitian immigrants stole and ate pets in the city of Springfield, Ohio.
Walz will likely be questioned about abortion rights and questions about the way he has described his long service in the Army National Guard.
Both candidates may also be grilled about how they would handle crises like the Iranian attack on Israel earlier Tuesday or the still-unfolding catastrophe caused by Hurricane Helene in the southeast.
The VP debate could play a bigger role in this campaign than other recent races. It’s likely to be the last debate between any of the 2024 candidates as former President Trump has so far said he won’t take part in a second clash with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Walz comes into the debate with an advantage in favorability polls over Vance, who’s the least popular veep candidate in modern political history.
Still, the audience is likely to be significantly smaller than the nearly 70 million who tuned in for the presidential debate on Sept. 10.
The debate stakes are high as the race for the White House remains neck and neck.
In the hours leading up to face-off, Walz tweeted a pre-debate video pep talk sent to him by a group of his former high school students and football players.
“I often say: my students taught me more than I could ever teach them,” Walz tweeted. “Thank you for your support. Let’s do this.”
Harris tweeted an attack on JD Vance, calling him “an extremist determined to strip away our most fundamental freedoms.”
“He could be just one heartbeat away from the Oval Office,” she posted.
Vance’s only post on Tuesday was a plea for help for the victims of Hurricane Helene.
Trump did not mention the debate in any social media posts on Tuesday.
Originally Published: October 1, 2024 at 8:16 p.m.