Economy, health care and defending past comments

Republican Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz clashed Tuesday on everything from economic and gun policy to immigration and school shootings in the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 election. The Ohio senator and Minnesota governor largely kept things cordial personally, even appearing chummy at times and saying they could work with each other. But they repeatedly attacked each other's running mate and defended their party policies and tickets. The debate, hosted by CBS News in New York City, could be the last event featuring candidates from both campaigns, with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump not currently scheduled to debate again. Here are five key takeaways from the debate. It wasn't really about Vance or Walz It was immediately clear the two prominent politicians on stage were merely proxies for their running mates, using the questions as vehicles to attack their top-of-the-ticket rivals and on many occasions going out of their way not to personally attack each other. Walz used his first question, regarding Iran’s strikes on Israel, to hit at Trump’s age: “A nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need in this moment.” He went on to assail “Donald Trump’s fickle leadership” around the world. Vance replied, “Who has been the vice president for the last three and a half years? And the answer is your running mate, not mine. Donald Trump consistently made the world more secure.” In the next section, about climate change, Walz hit Trump again: “Donald Trump called it a hoax, and then joked that these things would make more beachfront property to be able to invest in.” On immigration, Vance sidestepped when asked how Trump would carry out his mass deportation promise, and repeatedly attacking Harris: “I’ve been to the southern border more than our border czar, Kamala Harris, has been.” Notably, both men said they believed their on-stage rival wants to solve the problem at the border, as well as other areas of policy disagreement.

“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," Walz said. Vance replied, “I actually think I agree with you. I think you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think that Kamala Harris does.” The most tension between them came toward the end, when Walz asked Vance point-blank if Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance wouldn't give a straight answer, instead throwing a question back at Walz about censorship about the Covid-19 pandemic on Facebook. Walz admits he flubbed Tiananmen Square story Walz had a nervous first answer before getting into a rhythm later. But he stumbled a few times when asked about falsely claiming he visited Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989, when a report by Minnesota Public Radio said he was in fact there later in the year. Walz initially dodged the question: “I’ve not been perfect, and I’m a knucklehead at times,” he said, while giving a long and meandering answer about his upbringing and expressing his commitment to Minnesotans through his career. When a moderator followed up, Walz conceded: “I got there that summer and misspoke.” It's the type of question digging into past statements that national political candidates get a lot — but Walz has largely avoided media interviews and therefore hasn't dealt with many questions since becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Vance defends his flip on past criticism of Trump Vance was well-prepared with an answer when asked to explain his past criticisms of Trump, including saying he could be “America’s Hitler” and his critiques of Trump’s economic record as president. “Sometimes, of course, I disagree with the president, but I’ve also been extremely open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump. I was wrong, first of all, because I believed some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record,” Vance

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