Tim Walz and JD Vance Hold Civil Debate on Economy and Jan. 6

JD Vance and Tim Walz tackled divisive issues including immigration and Jan. 6 in their vice presidential debate on Tuesday, but often did so in strikingly agreeable terms.

Vance was the more fluent of the two, sanding off some of the edges of his public image as he presented a case that Donald Trump deserves another four years in office.

Walz stumbled over his words at times, copped to misspeaking and being a “knucklehead,” but also delivered a sharp rebuke of Trump’s refusal to accept defeat in 2020.

“I’m going to thank Senator Vance,” Walz said toward the end. “I think this is the conversation they want to hear, and I think there’s a lot of agreement.”

But when it comes to the attack on the Capitol, Walz said the two are “miles apart.”

“Did he lose the 2020 election?” Walz asked.

“Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance responded.

“That is a damning non-answer,” Walz said.

For both candidates, the debate offered an opportunity to introduce themselves on the national stage. In his opening remarks, Vance described himself as the product of a working-class family.

“My mother required food assistance for periods of her life,” he said. “My grandmother required Social Security to help raise me, and she raised me in part because my mother struggled with addiction for a big chunk of my early life.”

Walz appeared somewhat nervous and halting in his delivery at times. He was asked about his claim that he had been in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square crackdown, though he did not get there until later. The Minnesota governor gave a circuitous answer, talking about his upbringing in Nebraska and his National Guard service, before acknowledging that he sometimes would “get caught up in the rhetoric,” and that he misspoke.

“I’m a knucklehead at times,” he said.

Earlier in the evening, Vance took exception when CBS moderator Margaret Brennan fact-checked him during a discussion of immigration. Vance said that “millions of illegal immigrants” had overwhelmed cities like Springfield, Ohio. Brennan noted that the issue in Springfield has to do with Haitians who immigrated legally. Vance said the fact-check was against the agreed ground rules, and launched into an explanation on asylum policy.

Brennan tried to move on to a new topic, but Vance pressed ahead. After a few moments, and some crosstalk from Walz, Brennan and co-moderator Norah O’Donnell stepped in, and the microphones were shut off.

“The audience can’t hear you because your mics are cut,” Brennan said. “We have so much we want to get to.”

Fact-checks were a contentious issue for the Republican ticket after the ABC debate on Sept. 10 between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The moderators in that debate intervened repeatedly to correct Trump’s statements, prompting the Trump camp to accuse ABC of bias.

On the question of democracy, Vance repeatedly accused Harris of trying to censor right-wing views, and warned of the threat of “big technology companies silencing their fellow citizens.” During her presidential campaign in 2019, Harris called on Twitter to kick Trump off the platform, arguing he had violated the site’s terms of service.

“Kamala Harris is engaged in censorship at an industrial scale,” Vance said. “She did it during COVID, she’s done it over a number of other issues. And that, to me, is a much bigger threat to democracy than what Donald Trump said when he said that protesters should peacefully protest on January 6th.”

At the outset, Brennan vowed to hold a “thoughtful and civil debate,” and it largely lived up to that. Both candidates trained their fire at the top of the ticket, leaving room for cordiality between the two vice presidential contenders.

During a discussion of guns, Walz said that his 17-year-old son had witnessed a shooting at a community center. Vance said he didn’t know that. “I’m sorry about that,” Vance said.

“I appreciate it,” Walz said.

Vance and Walz also sparred on abortion, climate change and the conflagration in Israel. On abortion, Vance moderated his tone, speaking about a friend who had an abortion when she was young. He also turned several topics back to immigration, as when he argued that illegal immigrants are responsible for high housing prices.

Vance was asked about his previous statements critical of Trump.

“I’ve disagreed with the President, but I’ve also been extremely open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump,” Vance said, saying that he believed false media accounts about Trump, but was convinced after seeing Trump’s record in office.

On foreign policy, Walz said that Trump is “fickle” and criticized him for minimizing the injuries of American soldiers who were targeted by an Iranian missile strike during his administration.

Vance countered that Trump presided over relative calm on the global stage.

“Donald Trump actually delivered stability in the world, and he did it by establishing effective deterrence,” Vance said. “People were afraid of stepping out of line.”