A win
Despite a somewhat slow start and an occasionally halting style, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz produced strong answers on health care, gun violence and reproductive rights. But his standout win — and indeed one of the most compelling moments of the whole night — came at the end of the debate, when the issue of election integrity took center stage. Vice presidents are tasked with a final ceremonial role in the process of certifying state electors. Former President Donald Trump tried to exploit this role in 2020 and pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to try to stop the certification. Pence refused. Just as concerning, though, is Trump's reluctance to even admit that he lost the 2020 election.
Tuesday night, Walz asked Sen. JD Vance point-blank whether Trump lost to Joe Biden. It was an easy question, which Vance nonetheless whiffed. Instead of answering with a yes or a no, Vance equivocated, deflected and eventually tried to turn the issue into a confusing and nebulous referendum on "censorship." Only then did it become clear that Vance, for all his smooth talking points, is still in many ways just a vessel for Trumpism.
A loss
During an extended exchange about the consequences of illegal immigration, CBS News co-moderator Margaret Brennan offered a mild fact-check of Vance, who claimed that in "Springfield, Ohio, and in communities all across this country, you've got schools that are overwhelmed, you've got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you've got housing that is totally unaffordable, because we've brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes."
Brennan noted that many of the Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are in fact there legally. This caused Vance to lose his cool. "Margaret, the rules were that you guys weren't going to fact-check," he complained. Then, as Brennan's colleague Norah O'Donnell attempted to move on, Vance pushed back again, trying to tie Haitian migrants in Ohio to illegal immigration. Finally, CBS cut his mic.
Putting aside Vance's snarky treatment of the moderators, his seemingly righteous anger here is misplaced. Vance and Trump have repeatedly claimed that Springfield is overrun with Haitian migrants who are causing all sorts of problems, including, incredibly, stealing and eating pets. But according to the city's Republican mayor, Vance's own office called officials in Springfield to check this pet rumor and was told they were baseless.
It was a strikingly emotional reaction from Vance, who attempted to maintain a mostly collegial demeanor throughout the "Midwestern nice" debate. And it came off as both overly defensive and disproportionally condescending.
A lie
Vance says he "never supported a national ban" on abortion. This is, right off the top, not fully accurate. In 2022, Vance said he "would like abortion to be illegal nationally."
But in the same breath, Vance admitted he has supported a "national minimum standard" for abortion procedures. A "national minimum standard" of six or eight or even 15 weeks, however, would restrict abortion access to such an extent that it would become a form of abortion ban. This is a slick rhetorical trick, but it shouldn't fool people who are listening closely.
