Top takeaways from the JD Vance vs. Tim Walz vice presidential debate

Vice Presidential hopefuls Tim Walz and JD Vance squared off Tuesday night in what may be the last debate of the 2024 presidential campaign. It was the first encounter between Minnesota's Democratic governor and Ohio's Republican senator, following last month's debate between the tops of their tickets, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

No more debates are on the political calendar before Election Day. Tuesday's confrontation came as the global stakes of the contest rose again as Iran fired missiles at Israel. The vice presidential hopefuls sparred over the violence in the Middle East, climate change and immigration. Here are some takeaways from Tuesday's debate.

Vance and Walz punch up rather than at each other
Vance and Walz trained the bulk of their attacks not on their on-stage rival, but on the running mates who weren’t in the room.

Both vice presidential nominees sought to convey a genial mien as they lobbed criticism at Harris and Trump, respectively.

It was a reflection of the fact that most voters don’t cast a ballot based on the vice president, and on a vice presidential nominee’s historic role in serving as the attack dog for their running mates.

Walz pointedly attacked Trump for failing to meet his pledge of building a physical barrier across the entire U.S.-Mexico border at the country’s southern neighbor’s expense.

“Less than 2% of that wall got built and Mexico didn’t pay a dime,” Walz said.

Underscoring the focus on the top of the ticket, during a back-and-forth about immigration, Vance said to his opponent: “I think that you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think that Kamala Harris does.” #Politics #News #Election

[Stucktony]

Honestly it was just nice hearing two people actually debate about issues and not just tear each other down

[am]

It's sad when both vps can articulate thoughts better than the actual candidates

[gd]

Debates don’t change minds but the real winner here is JD. He’s only 40 and shows good temperament, calm yet assertive demeanor, and knows the policies. This debate is going to kick off a long likely successful career in politics. Probably presidential candidate

[eseromavula]

Muted mic was the telling factor. Fact checkers got fact checked.

[entrthedragon]

They tried to mute JD but I could still hear him clearly.

[OO-udif]

JD Vance was brilliant and CBS biased moderators were horrendous! Next VP is JD Vance!!!

[robertpearce]

Wow just by debating with facts like that Vance may have even convinced Waltz to vote for Trump now!

[Kingfisher]

“We can’t afford four more years of this” - Tim Waltz. I couldn’t agree more, Tim.

[jdraupp]

Top takeaways? The media is hell bent on electing Harris and JD Vance absolutely wiped the floor with Walz as well as the moderators.

[CindiMorgan]

... but Tampon Tim's facial expressions were epic!!😂

[nicholastsaclas]

JD Vance may not smoke but he certainly smoked Walz last night.

[ssf]

This is the most biased recap of the debate I've seen. Didn't bring up any of Walz lies and his non responses to those lies....

[neiljohnson]

Well, now Vance didn’t sound as crazy as everybody said he was. I think he got his points across better than Walz.

[wfwillis]

What a treasure trove of sound bites and facial expressions the Trump campaign can use in their ads! A gold mine!

[woodstocknation]

J D Vance really graded well. He is gonna be a good VP. J D Vance moved the undecideds voters with his resolve. JD Vance was impressive

[JohnDoe-vthj]

Vance could talk even moderators didn't let him. Moderators were doing a bad job last night.

[Smango-vwlp]

Vance looked and presented himself very presidential and I can see him as a future president someday!:) he clearly won the debate no doubt and clearly has my vote along with everyone who watched the debate with myself!

[JamesDeBall]

This was a blowout win for JD Vance. No reasonable person can claim otherwise.

[naturalobserver]

I think the reason Waltz looked so disorganized was because the tampon despenser in the men's room wasn't working. 🤷‍♂️

[GitzenShiggles]

Walz had the look of a man being dragged to the woodshed for a whoopin'. Vance just dominated this debate. It was almost a parody!