"Panicked": NBC anchor Kristen Welker reveals that Democrats wrote to her concerned about JD Vance's strong debate performance
The Ohio senator was seen as the clear winner of his head-to-head against Kamala Harris' running mate Tim Walz.
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Kristen Welker was the moderator of the second debate between Trump and Biden in 2020/ Jim Bourg
On Tuesday, October 1, JD Vance and Tim Walz went head-to-head in the only debate between the vice presidential candidates in this election. The Ohio senator and the Minnesota governor clashed when it came to talking about the economy, the southern border and abortion, among many other issues. The day after, NBC anchor Kristen Welker revealed what some Democrats were texting her during the event.
Welker, who moderated the second 2020 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, appeared on NBC's 'Today' show, where she commented on the face-off between Vance and Walz.
"Sen. JD Vance clearly knew his challenge was to deal with the likability factor. The fact that in our poll, he's the second most disliked running mate in history. So I was getting texts from Democrats panicked, quite frankly, who were saying, ‘Wow, he’s really moderating himself on these issues. He’s the most likable he’s ever been,'" the 'Meet the Press' host expressed.
In turn, Welker added that the Ohio senator's Jan. 6 response will be used sooner rather than later for Democratic political ads.
"Yet, that moment at the end where Gov. Walz pressed him on whether he accepts whether former President Trump lost the election and he said, ‘Let’s focus on the future’ — they are going to try to make that into a flash point. (...) They’re already in the process of turning that into an ad. They believe that is going to be a way to really try to appeal to that very small sliver that is still undecided, but moderate, independent, suburban voters," she added.
The Republican was especially sharp during the debate segments on the economy and the southern border, reminding the audience again and again that Harris was currently in office and no stranger to government.
"Kamala Harris has been vice president for three and a half years. She has had the opportunity to enact all these great policies and what she has actually done instead is raise the cost of food by 25%, raise the cost of housing by 60%, open up the southern border of the United States and make middle-class living unaffordable," the senator expressed
As for Walz's performance, he was described as "shaky" and "nervous." He even made some comments that did not take long to go viral. For example, during the firearms segment, the Democratic governor was crafting a response when he said the following: "I've become friends with school shooters."