JD Vance eloquently prevails in civilized debate against Tim Walz

JD Vance and Tim Walz starred in the first and only debate between the vice presidential candidates this election cycle. In a tone of respect and cordiality, albeit with momentary interruptions from the moderators, Vance and Walz laid out their views on the economy, immigration, Israel and abortion, among many other issues.

CBS hosted the event at its New York studios, where many Republican supporters came to show their support for the Ohio senator. The candidates, who did not know each other personally, debated for nearly two hours in a calmer tone than expected.

Vance and Walz had been trading jabs on social media for several weeks. As Vance attacked him for his "radical" policies in Minnesota and for his military record, to which Walz responded by repeatedly calling him "weird."

The two even shared a few minutes of small talk at the end of the debate, where they took the opportunity to introduce each other to their wives.

Highlights of the debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz

The first unforced error of the night came from CBS, whose producers missed the initial greeting between Vance and Walz. The Democrat showed up in a dark suit and blue tie, while Vance appeared in a slightly lighter suit and a flirty pink tie, a choice that many users noted on social media for the combination with his eyes.

Vance had his best moments when talking about the economy, the southern border, and the cost of living, while the Democrat stood out in the segments on January 6 and abortion. Vance was articulate and eloquent and presented himself as the candidate for change. As opposed to Walz, whom he painted as the continuity of the current model. At the same time, Walz became nervous and unable to paint Vance as a dangerous candidate.

The debate began on Middle East, particularly Israel. Walz was the first to respond and initially confused Israel with Iran, though he didn't let thirty seconds pass before attacking Donald Trump.

Specifically, he recalled former members of the Trump administration who criticized the former president, even mentioning Vance's 2016 comments.

In a clear nod to Rust Belt voters, Vance began by recalling his story of living in a lower-class home before discussing the Middle East. Without hesitation, he said the U.S. should be more supportive of Israel and not go against its decisions.

"Tim, I know you have a tough job here..."

The next topic was climate change, and Walz took to calling Vance and Trump deniers. The Republican blamed Kamala Harris and Joe Biden for attacking local oil and gas production, claiming it is far better for the environment than imported energy, for example, from China.

"We are the cleanest economy in the entire world. What have Kamala Harris's policies actually led to? More energy production in China... more doing business in some of the dirtiest places in thew world... So if we actually care about getting cleaner air, cleaner water, the best thing to do is double down and invest in American workers, and the American people. And unfortunately, Kamala Harris has done exactly the opposite," he fired back.

When discussing the economy, Vance took the opportunity to harshly criticize the last four years of the Biden-Harris administration. Specifically, he blamed them for high inflation rates and the rising cost of living, constantly reminding viewers that Harris was part of the current administration.

"Kamala Harris has been the Vice President for 3.5 years. She's had the opportunity to enact all of these great policies and what she's actually done instead is drive the cost of food higher by 25%, drive the cost of housing higher by 60%, open the American southern border, and make middle class life unaffordable," the Republican senator said.

"Tim, I know you have a tough job here. You have to pretend that Donald Trump didn't deliver rising take home pay, you have to pretend Donald Trump didn't deliver lower inflation and you have to simultaneously defend Kamala Harris' atrocious economic record," he added.

"It's about a woman and her doctor"

Minutes later came the abortion bloc, where Walz recalled that Trump nominated the three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, thus returning the power to legislate abortion to the states.

He favored codifying abortion at the national level, asserting that abortion is a matter of "public health" to be settled between a woman and her doctor. At the same time, he again associated the Trump-Vance ticket with "Project 2025."

"Their Project 2025 is going to have a registry of pregnancies. It’s going to get more difficult, if not impossible, to get contraception. And limit access, if not eliminate access, to infertility treatments. For so many of you out there listening, me included, infertility treatments are why I have a child. That’s nobody else’s business," he continued. However, he did not answer whether both he and Kamala Harris were against late-term abortions.

For his part, Vance reiterated his pro-"unborn" stance, although he said the Republican Party is due for a discussion on the issue. Toward the end of the segment, he attacked Walz over the law passed in Minnesota, which managed to put him on the defensive.

"As I read the Minnesota law that you signed into into into law, the statute that you signed into law, it says that a doctor who presides over an abortion where the baby survives, the doctor is under no obligation to provide lifesaving care to a baby who survives a botched late term abortion," he said.

Vance attacked Walz regarding the southern border

JD Vance reminded again and again that the Biden-Harris administration rescinded the Trump administration's dozens of executive orders on border security, thus causing a historic influx of illegal immigrants, a crisis he also linked to rising housing costs.

"The gross majority of what we need to do at the southern border is just empowering law enforcement to do their job. I've been to the southern border more than our border czar Kamala Harris has been — and it's actually heartbreaking, because the Border Patrol agents, they just want to be empowered to do their job," he continued.

As for Walz, he copied Harris' rhetoric in the debate with Trump and insisted that Republicans are to blame after failing to go along with the bill the White House negotiated with Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).

The Oklahoma Republican was watching the debate live and didn't stand idly by when the Democrat used it to make his point.

"No one in Congress has worked on stopping illegal immigration more than me and I am absolutely voting for the person who will close the border, Donald Trump. The reason I needed to negotiate the border security bill was the dangerous open border policies of Biden and Harris and their unwillingness to secure America," he posted on his X account.

"I've become friends with school shooters"

One of the most viral moments of the debate came unexpectedly on the gun control block, where both candidates shared some personal stories and even brought positions closer together.

At one point, when Walz was explaining his change in stance on guns, he dropped the following statement, "I've become friends with school shooters."

Walz went after Vance for Jan. 6, 2021

The Minnesota governor reminded viewers of January 6, 2021, when he questioned Vance for supporting a former president who questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election.

When Vance defended himself, attacking Democrats for also questioning election results, Walz asked him directly if he believed Trump lost in 2020. Vance responded that the healthy thing to do is to "focus on the future."

Closing arguments

First to conclude his remarks was Walz, who emphasized that this election is about saving democracy and achieving an "opportunity economy."

"We all know who Donald Trump is. (...) Senator Vance was clear, he's going to stick to Trump's agenda. Kamala Harris brings us a different choice. (...) She's going to bring us a new way forward," he said.

Looking directly into the camera, Vance remarked on the need to reverse the Biden-Harris Administration's policies to give air to families across the country. "She's been the vice president for three and a half years. Day one was 1,400 days ago and her policies have made the problems worse. (...) We have the greatest country in the world, but we're not going to be able to achieve our dreams with broken leadership in Washington. We need a change, a new direction," Vance concluded.