Best and worst debate moments for Vance, Walz

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) engaged in a policy-focused debate Tuesday, civilly sparring on immigration, abortion and the economy, among other issues.

While there were plenty of disagreements and attacks, the two also made a point of agreeing with each other on some issues. They shook hands at the beginning of the debate, and introduced their spouses at its conclusion.

Here are some of the best and worst moments for each candidate.

Vance best moments

Challenging the moderators

Vance is almost certain to earn points with former President Trump and other Republicans for an aggressive exchange with the moderators.

After CBS’s Margaret Brennan attempted to fact-check Vance’s past comments about Haitian migrants in Ohio, Vance jumped in to take issue with her doing so.

“The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check,” Vance said as the moderators attempted to move on to a question on the economy. “And since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on.”

Brennan interrupted Vance’s attempt to expound, stressing “we have so much to get through.”

Walz also attempted to add to the conversation, prompting the moderators to cut the candidates’ mics.

Vance has appealed to Trump largely through his loyalty and willingness to go on the attack. His decision to challenge the moderators will sit well with the former president, who early in the debate bashed Brennan and Norah O’Donnell as “biased.”

Introducing himself to the public

Tuesday’s debate represented the first time many Americans got an opportunity to hear from the Ohio senator at length, and Vance used the moment to humanize himself and outline some of his biography.

Vance mentioned his mother, who struggled with a drug addiction, multiple times throughout the evening as he sought to sympathize with Americans grappling with poverty and addiction issues of their own.

“I was raised in a working-class family. My mother required food assistance for periods of her life. My grandmother required Social Security help to raise me. And she raised me in part because my own mother struggled with addiction for a big chunk of my early life,” Vance said in his first comments of the night.

“I went to college on the GI bill after I enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in Iraq,” he continued. “And so I stand here asking to be your vice president with extraordinary gratitude for this country, for the American dream that made it possible for me to live my dreams.”

Polling has suggested that Vance, relentlessly attacked by Democrats over a variety of past comments, is unpopular with voters and less liked than Walz.

A Gallup poll published Tuesday showed 46 percent of registered voters said they view Walz as either an “excellent” or “pretty good” choice for vice president, compared to 41 percent who said the same of Vance.

The debate could help Vance improve those figures, both because of the skill he showed as a debater, and the details he gave about his background.

The Ohio senator, while sticking to a game plan of defending Trump, pointed to areas where he agreed with Walz on issues, too.

It all suggested Vance wanted to take good advantage of the moment to better introduce himself to the public at large.

Vance worst moments

Climate change skepticism 

Vance expressed skepticism about climate change during the debate, questioning the scientific consensus that climate change is primarily being driven by human activity and largely due to carbon emissions stemming from the burning of fossil fuels.

“One of the things that I’ve noticed some of our Democratic friends talking a lot about is a concern about carbon emissions — this idea that carbon emissions drive all the climate change,” Vance said.

“Let’s just say that’s true, just for the sake of argument, so we’re not arguing about weird science. Let’s just say that’s true,” he added.

O’Donnell fact-checked Vance’s response, saying, “the overwhelming consensus among scientists is that the Earth’s climate is warming at an unprecedented rate.”

Vance later wouldn’t say whether he agrees with Trump’s assertion that climate change is a “hoax.”

Springfield migrant attacks

The senator was put on the spot over his previous attacks on Haitian migrants in the town of Springfield, Ohio, including debunked claims from Vance and Trump that the migrants were eating pets.

Walz invoked Vance’s past comments, including the senator’s statement during a recent CNN interview when he suggested he would be willing to exaggerate stories if it meant drawing attention to critical issues.

“The consequences in Springfield were the governor had to send state law enforcement to escort kindergarteners to school,” Walz said.

“He’s very worried about the things that I’ve said [about] Springfield. Look, in Springfield, Ohio, and in communities across this country, you’ve got schools that are overwhelmed, you’ve got hospitals that are overwhelmed,” Vance responded. “The people I’m most worried about in Springfield, Ohio, are the American citizens who have had their lives destroyed by Kamala Harris’s open border.”

Many Haitians, including in Springfield, are in the U.S. under the protection of Temporary Protected Status, which keeps people from being deported to nations in turmoil and allows them to work here.

While Trump and Vance have sought to put Harris and Walz on defense over immigration, their attacks on Haitian migrants and the community of Springfield despite pushback from local officials could rub some voters the wrong way.

Walz best moments

Pressing Vance on 2020

Walz pressured Vance on the 2020 election, asking him directly if Trump lost the election while arguing that the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were a result of the then-president not admitting defeat.

“This was a threat to our democracy in a way we had not seen. And it manifested itself because of Donald Trump’s inability to say — he is still saying he didn’t lose the election,” Walz said.

He questioned Vance, “Did he lose the 2020 election?” 

“Tim, I’m focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?” Vance replied.

Walz responded, “That is a damning — that is a damning nonanswer.”

Vance continued to discuss censorship, arguing Harris wants to use the power of the government and big technology companies to silence people. Walz responded that the election is a “clear choice” about which candidates has firewalls around them and “who is going to honor democracy and who is going to honor Donald Trump.”

Abortion access

The Harris campaign has put abortion rights front and center, seeking to make Trump’s appointment of three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade a crucial part of the election.

On Tuesday, Walz repeatedly stuck to the message on abortion and tied the issue back to the former president. He cited multiple instances of women whose lives were impacted by post-Roe abortion bans at the state level, including Amber Thurman, who died in August of an infection after a rare complication from taking abortion medication.

Walz also used the abortion discussion to invoke Project 2025, the conservative policy blueprint from the Heritage Foundation that Trump and his campaign have repeatedly distanced themselves from.

“We’re pro-women. We’re pro-freedom to make your own choice,” Walz said. “We know what the implications are to not be that — women having miscarriages, women not getting the care, physicians feeling like they may be prosecuted for providing that care.”

The conversation appeared to catch the attention of Trump, who posted on Truth Social during the debate to say he would veto a national abortion ban if elected. Trump had previously dodged the question at his Sept. 10 debate against Harris.

Walz worst moments 

China response

Walz said he was a “knucklehead” and had misspoken when questioned on his past claim that he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests after reports found he traveled to Asia a couple of months after the protest took place.

“I try to do the best I can, but I’m not perfect. I’m a knucklehead at times,” the governor said.

He had a windy response from there, detailing his background coming from Nebraska through becoming a member of Congress and eventually governor of Minnesota before saying he can sometimes “get caught up in the rhetoric.”

He also said he “would make the case that Donald Trump should have come on one of those trips with us,” referring to the trip to Asia around the student protests.

Brennan pressed him on explaining his past statement, and Walz replied, “I got there that summer and misspoke on this. I will just — that’s what I said.”

Walz made a joke on the issue later in the debate, when moderators asked Vance about past comments that he would not have certified the last presidential election.

“I’m sympathetic to misspeaking on things,” Walz said. Vance replied, “Me too, man.”

Shaky start

Walz had a shaky start to the match-up, jotting down notes frequently and speaking slowly during his first answer.

The first question from the moderators was about Iran launching attacks on Israel earlier Tuesday and questioning the candidates on if they would support or oppose a preemptive strike by Israel on Iran.

Walz thanked viewers for tuning into the debate, mentioned the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and quickly turned to bashed Trump, saying he talked about crowd sizes and calling him fickle.

“What we’ve seen out of Vice President Harris is, we’ve seen steady leadership. We’ve seen a calmness that is able to be able to draw on the coalitions, to bring them together, understanding that our allies matter. When our allies see Donald Trump turn towards Vladimir Putin, turn towards North Korea, when we start to see that type of fickleness around holding the coalitions together, we will stay committed,” Walz said.

Vance opted to introduce himself in his first response, and then got into arguing for Trump’s foreign policy leadership.