RECAP: JD Vance and Tim Walz square off in US vice presidential debate
The two men vying to be the next vice president of the US have gone head-to-head in what is likely the last debate of the election campaign.
Republican JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, debated Democrat Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ VP pick live on CBS.
Ms Harris was widely viewed as the winner in her only debate with Mr Trump on September 10, which made this debate crucial for Republicans.
Ms Harris’ successes, something Mr Trump disputes, followed a catastrophic first debate for the Democrats, with US President Joe Biden forced to stand down as the Democratic nominee not long after his performance.
Walz, 60, a liberal governor and former high school teacher, and Vance, 40, a bestselling author and conservative firebrand senator, portrayed themselves as sons of America’s Midwestern heartland but polar opposites on the issues gripping the US.
Things could have got ugly, but the two candidates were surprisingly, even uncharacteristically kind to each other.
There were uncomfortable stumbles from both Mr Vance and Mr Walz, but for two candidates who are happy to walk about from times they have “misspoken” and not be held to their word, they might not sweat it.
Scroll through the updates below to catch up on the biggest moments.
Key Events
Vice president debate uncharacteristically friendly... in the room
This debate took a very different tone than others we have seen. It was uncharacteristically friendly, even nice. The two candidates openly agreed with each other on many occasions and had kind things to say about each other.
It could be easy to say that made the debate a little more boring than what audiences have become accoustomed to. However, that could be celebrated as a win for a polite society.
On Truth social, it was another story all together.
Mr Trump fired off a flurry of posts attacking “Tampon Tim”, pointing out times he mispoke and criticising his use of notes.
The debate has wrapped up, but there are a few things we need to get into
The first, and likely only, vice presidential debate was unique.
Republican candidate JD Vance came across as confident and comfortable, other than when he was asked if Trump lost the 2020 election.
Democratic candidate Tim Walz appeared nervous. He stumbled over words, often spoke in circles, and struggled to clear ambiguity from times in the past when he had “misspoken”.
At the start of the debate, Mr Walz had an uncomfortable stumble, talking about Iran’s attack on Israel, incorrectly saying it was Iraq that attacked.
Mr Walz also slipped when speaking about gun violence, saying he was “friends with school shooters”, presumably meaning victims.
The Democrat openly says he fumbles over his words, so it is unlikely the fresh stumbles will be a big issue for Mr Walz.
Vance sells ‘the American dream’ in his final pitch
“I believe we have the most beautiful country in the world,” Mr Vance said.
“I meet people on the campaign trail who cannot afford food but have the grace and generosity to ask me how I am doing.
“What that has taught me is we have the greatest country, the most beautiful country and the most incredible people anywhere in the world.
“But they are not going to be able to achieve their full dreams with the broken leadership we have in Washington.
They won’t live their American dream if we do the same thing we have been doing for the last 3.5 years, we need change, we need a new direction, we need a president who has done this once before and did it well.
“Please vote for Donald Trump and whether you vote for me or Governor Walz, I want to say I’m so proud to be doing this and I am for you.”
Walz highlights Harris' support in the final statement
“The support of democracy matters,” Mr Walz said.
“I am as surprised as anybody of his coalition by what Kamala Harris has built.
“From Bernie Sanders to Taylor Swift and a whole bunch of folks in between there.
“They don’t all agree on everything but they are truly optimistic people.
“Kamala Harris is bringing us a new way forward.
“She is bringing us a politics of joy, bringing real solutions for the middle-class.
“All while asking everyone, to join this movement, make your voices heard, let’s look for a new day where everybody gets that opportunity and everybody gets a chance to thrive.
“I humbly ask for your vote on November 5 for Kamala Harris.”
Vance won’t say that Trump lost the 2020 election
“Did he (Trump) lose the 2020 election?” Mr Walz asked.
“I’m focused on the future,” Mr Vance said.
“Did Kamala Harris sensor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?”
“That is a damning non-answer,” Mr Walz pointed out.
“It is a damning non-answer for you to not talk about censorship,” Mr Vance replied, again not saying if Mr Trump lost the last election.
“We think there were problems in 2020,” Mr Vance said.
Walz schools Vance on what January 6 was
“This one is troubling to me, and I think we need to tell the story,” Mr Walz said back to Mr Vance.
“Donald Trump refused to acknowledge (that he lost).
“140 police officers were beaten at the capital that day.
“Several later died.”
“The thing I’m most concerned about is the idea of imprisoning your political opponents, already laying the groundwork for people not accepting this (outcome).
“President’s words matter.
“When this is over, we need to shake hands, and the winner needs to be the winner.”
Mr Vance called Mr Walz’s explanation “rich”, bringing up Russia buying Facebook ads during the Trump-Clinton 2016 election.
“January 6 wasn’t Facebook ads,” Mr Walz shot back.
“This was a threat to our democracy in a way that we have not seen, and it manifested itself because of Donald Trump’s inability to say, he still saying he didn’t lose the election.”
January 6, democracy, and fraud in the US election
“After the 2020 election, President Trump’s campaign and others filed 62 lawsuits contesting the results,” moderator O’Donnell said.
“Judges, including thoseappointed by President Trump andother Republican presidents looked at the evidence and said there was no widespread fraud.
“Senator Vance, you have said that you would not have certified the last presidential election, and would have asked the states to submit alternative electors.
“That has been called unconstitutional and illegal.”
Mr Vance said his belief is that the US should fight those issues, debate them peacefully in the public sphere.
Mr Vance pointed out that Mr Trump still left the White House.
“I believe we actually have a threat to democracy in this country, but unfortunately it is not the threat Kamala Harris and Tim Walz want to talk about.
“It’s the threat of censorship.
“It is Americans casting aside lifelong friendships because of disagreements over politics, it’s big technology companies silencing their fellow citizens.
“It is Kamala Harris saying that rather than debate and persuade her fellow Americans, she’d like to censor the people who engage in misinformation.”
‘Donald Trump has earned the right’ to make changes to healthcare
Mr Vance was asked about Mr Trump’s changes to America’s healthcare system and how he would protect Americans from paying more and staying protected for pre-existing conditions.
“We’re going to cover Americans with pre-existing conditions,” Mr Vance said.
“When Donald Trump was actually president, and again, he has a record to be proud of, prescription drugs fell in 2018 for the first time in a very long time.
“Under Kamala Harris’s leadership, prescription drugs are up about 7 per cent.
“Under Donald Trump’s entire four years, they were up about 1.5 per cent.
“He introduced pricing transparency.
“Donald Trump could have destroyed the program (Obamacare).
“Instead, he worked in a bipartisan way to ensure that Americans had access to affordable care.
“It’s not perfect, of course, and there’s so much morethat we could do.
“But I think that Donald Trump has earned the right to put in place some better healthcare policies.
“He’s earned it, because hedid it successfully the first time.”
Mr Vance didn’t answer the question and was asked again how he would prtect Americans.
“We currently have laws in place that protect people with pre-existing conditions,” Mr Vance said.
‘We do want to blame Kamala Harris,’ says JD Vance
Mr Walz said Democrats were creating housing programs that helped people get into homes.
Mr Vance saw the issue of housing access and affordability differently.
“We do not want to blame immigrants but we do want to blame Kamala Harris for letting in illegal aliens,” Mr Vance said.
“25 million illegal aliens is one of the most significant drivers of home prices and why we have massive increases in home prices
“That’s happened right alongside massive increases in illegal alien populations under Kamala Harris’s leadership.”
Walz reveals his child witnessed a shooting at a community centre.
Speaking on the need for greater gun control, Mr Walz revealed one his son had been far too close to a shooting.
“This is the biggest nightmare of most parents watching tonight.
“I have a 17-year-old and he witnessed the shooting at acommunity centre playing volleyball.
“As those things do not leave you.
“We need to figure this out.”
Mr Walz spoke about Minnesota’s enhanced red flag laws and background checks, saying something like that needed to be expanded.
