New York:

Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz and his Republican rival JD Vance debated each other on Wednesday as millions of Americans tuned in to the first, and most-likely, only vice-presidential debate before the country votes on November 5.

Unlike the presidential debate, which saw personal attacks by the contenders, the vice presidential debate was calm, structured and surprisingly civil as Mr Vance and Mr Walz engaged in debating mostly policy issues.

Instead of indulging in slander, both candidates stuck to criticism of the opposing presidential candidate. The debate came as a surprise to most, especially after a months-long ugly and divisive election campaign – that saw personal attacks, derogatory language, racist slurs, inflammatory rhetoric and even assassination attempts.

The US Vice Presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz was calm, structured and surprisingly civil.

Mr Vance and Mr Walz too, have in the past, attacked each other during the election campaign, but for the vice-presidential debate, they struck a respectful tone.

THE MOST HEATED EXCHANGE OF THE DEBATE

The debate was cordial and focused mostly on policy matters but saw some tense moments towards the end when a question was asked to the Republican candidate on whether he agrees that Donald Trump lost the 2020 US election.

During the debate Mr Vance, who has said that he would not have voted to certify the result of the previous presidential election, evaded the question when asked if he would challenge this year’s vote if Donald Trump loses the election.

To this Mr Walz responded by blaming Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud which had instigated a mob attack on the US Capitol in January, 2021, which was an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election win in 2020.

Blaming Mr Vance, Mr Walz said, “He is still saying he (Tump) didn’t lose the election,”. He then directly questioned his rival by asking, “Did he (Trump) lose the 2020 election?” When the Republican candidate again dodged the question and went on to accuse Kamala Harris of pursuing online censorship of opposing views, the debate was at its most intense exchange.

“That’s a damning non-answer,” Mr Walz exclaimed.

Slamming JD Vance, Tim Walz said, “He is still saying he (Tump) didn’t lose the 2020 election”.

The two candidates, with vastly divergent views on every subject, debated each other on a series of subjects – from inflation to immigration, from taxes to the economy, from abortion to gender issues, the West Asia crisis and even climate change.

PUNCHES AND COUNTER-PUNCHES

Picking on each other’s presidential candidate and what they considered their vulnerabilities, both Mr Walz and Mr Vance dodged the verbal punches that came their way and responded with equal measure.

Describing Donald Trump as an “unstable” leader who puts the interest of billionaires before commoners, Mr Walz attacked Donald Trump over his policy on immigration. He slammed the former president for “pressuring the Republicans in Congress” to abandon the bipartisan bill on border security.

“Donald Trump had four years to do this. He promised you, Americans, saying how easy it will be.”

Mr Vance took a jab at the Democrats over the problem of inflation and economy, and repeatedly questioned Kamala Harris on why she has not done enough to address these important issues in the four years that she was vice-president in the Biden Administration.

Vance and Walz also clashed on pressing global issues, especially the crises in Europe and West Asia.

“If Kamala Harris has such great plans for how to address middle-class problems, then she ought to do them now – not when asking for promotion, but in the job the American people gave her 3-1/2 years ago,” Mr Vance said.

The two also clashed on pressing global issues, especially the crises in Europe and West Asia. Mr Walz called Donald Trump “too fickle” and “sympathetic” to strongmen like Putin and Netanyahu and said that Trump cannot be trusted to handle the conflict-prone region. Mr Vance rejected these claims and asserted that when Mr Trump was President, he had made the world “a more secure place” during his term in office.

Donald Trump, who was watching the debate live, was posting messages – mostly personal attacks – on his website ‘Truth Social’ in his trademark style. He attacked the moderators of the debate hosted by US television network CBS. He also called the Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz a man with “low IQ” and even called him “pathetic”.

During the debate, Republican candidate JD Vance, who had once been a strong Trump basher, blamed the media for its reporting on Donald Trump, and tried to set the record straight by saying “I was wrong about Donald Trump”.

He went on to explain that “I was wrong, first of all, because I believe some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record. But most importantly, Donald Trump delivered for the American people.”

THE ‘MINNESOTA NICE’ DEBATE

The Vice Presidential debate was between Democratic candidate Tim Walz, 60, a former high school teacher and current Governor of Minnesota with liberal views, and his Republican rival JD Vance, 40, a former venture capitalist, bestselling author and conservative firebrand US senator from Ohio with some very conservative views on issues like abortion.

Though both candidates portrayed themselves as sons of America’s Midwestern heartland, each had deeply opposing views on nearly every major issue that is gripping a vastly polarised United States of America.

By and large both candidates appeared calm and courteous, demonstrating a ‘Minnesota Nice’ attitude throughout the debate.

While both candidates tried to outperform one-another while dealing the occasional blow to the rival, by and large both men appeared calm and courteous, demonstrating a ‘Minnesota Nice’ attitude throughout the debate, occasionally even thanking each other.

At the end of the debate, reports and polls suggested that neither candidate dealt a ‘knockout punch’ to the other, nor could one outshine the other, resulting in a balanced debate with no clear winner.

Political analysts believe that vice presidential debates generally do not alter the outcome of a presidential election. That said, even a slight shift in public opinion could prove decisive with the race on a razor’s edge five weeks before election day.
 

New York:

US vice-presidential debates traditionally have little effect on the White House race, but with Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris neck-and-neck, the stakes were higher than usual in New York on Tuesday.

Trump’s running mate JD Vance and Harris’s VP pick Tim Walz both scored points in what is expected to be their only showdown, although the primary goal was always to avoid harming their running mates’ chances. 

Here are five takeaways from the debate.

New faces

Walz, who was virtually unknown on the national stage before the summer, had set expectations low — comparing Vance’s academic record as a “Yale law guy” and is own humble status as a “public school teacher.” 

He had a shaky start but improved as he relaxed into the conversation. Famously affable, Walz tried to weave in the occasional folksy anecdote but he often came across as defensive, dropping his trademark Midwestern charm.

Vance, who is known for his rhetorical prowess, was under pressure to make up for Trump’s dismal debate performance last month, when he was soundly beaten by Harris.

Trump had missed chances to attack Harris on immigration and inflation — failing to frame her as an incumbent — but Vance was able to score points where his boss failed.

Both candidates tackled policy specifics — the Middle East, climate change, the economy or the fentanyl crisis — which made for a more wonkish debate than the Trump-Harris showdown.

Awkward 

Walz was forced to explain claims that he was in Hong Kong for a teaching position in 1989 during the deadly Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.

“I got there that summer and misspoke on this,” the governor said calling himself a “knucklehead” who “will get caught up in the rhetoric.”

Vance, who labelled Trump as “unfit for our nation’s highest office” before becoming a supporter and once said Trump “could be America’s Hitler” — was challenged on his remarks.

He said he had been deceived by false stories in the media and was wrong.

A proxy battle 

The real contest was between Harris and Trump, with their two stand-ins focusing their sharpest attacks on the top-of-the-ticket contest.

The Minnesota governor went after Trump for ignoring the advice of scientists and economists.

“If you’re going to be president, you don’t have all the answers. Donald Trump believes he does,” he said.

He attacked Trump for bragging about avoiding taxes, and for urging Republicans to vote against a tough bipartisan border security bill.

Vance tore into Harris on immigration and accused her of driving up prices, particularly housing costs, by allowing millions of migrants into the country.

Fact checks, mic cuts 

Debate fact-checking has made for an unusual controversy during this election cycle.

CBS said it would decline to debunk whoppers live on air but instead directed viewers to a blog offering real-time fact-checking.

There were a couple of on-air fact-checks of Vance — including one on man-made climate change and another on the legal status of some migrants.

This infuriated Vance, who began pushing back. The candidates’ mics were both muted briefly as they launched into a rare heated back-and-forth.

A gentler tone 

But, without the bombastic ex-president, proceedings largely resembled election debates that used to take place before the Trump era: policy-focused, lacking personal attacks and cloaked in apparent civility.

There was even a tender, human moment when Walz related a shocking story about his 17-year-old son Gus witnessing a shooting in a community centre.

Vance made a point of turning to Walz to sympathize with him.

The candidates brought up their families on more than one occasion, with Vance talking about his “three beautiful little kids.” 

Walz and Vance shook hands at the start, and again end of the debate as their wives joined them on stage.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New York:

US vice presidential contenders JD Vance and Tim Walz took on the crisis in the Middle East as they met Tuesday for what could be an unusually important undercard debate, competing for decisive votes weeks before the election.

The showdown between Walz, the Democratic Minnesota governor chosen by Kamala Harris, and Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio who is Donald Trump’s running mate, is likely to be the last of the 2024 campaign.

Trump has refused a second debate with Vice President Harris, meaning this could be the final chance to see the two tickets go head to head.

The first question of the night was on Iran’s missile attack on Israel and Walz immediately turned his fire on Trump’s foreign policy record, slamming the ex-president for his “turn towards” Russia’s Vladimir Putin” and his withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear disarmament deal, known as the JCPOA.

“As much as Governor Walz just accused Donald Trump of being an agent of chaos, Donald Trump actually delivered stability in the world,” Vance countered.

“And he did it by establishing effective deterrence. People were afraid of stepping out of line.”

Vance, 40, and Walz, 60, each claim to be the true voice of the crucial swing states — including Michigan and Wisconsin — that could decide an election that remains on a knife edge with five weeks to go.

History suggests vice-presidential debates rarely move the dial much. But in an election campaign that has seen Harris step in for President Joe Biden unprecedentedly late in the game, Tuesday’s contest may have added significance.

Biden offered words of encouragement for Walz, telling him in a post on X ahead of his big night: “Coach, I got your back tonight!”

The race has seen Vance and Trump use increasingly divisive rhetoric and even falsely accuse immigrants of eating people’s pets — meaning the debate could make for fiery television.

“It will whet a lot of people’s appetites for November 5,” Thomas Whalen, an associate professor of social sciences at Boston University, told AFP.

But the debate itself risked being overshadowed by Mideast tensions, after Iran launched ballistic missiles against Israel, which said it largely repelled the attack.

Trump, visiting swing state Wisconsin on Tuesday, focused on the crisis, insisting that “if I were in charge, today’s attack on Israel never would have happened.”

Should Harris and Walz win, he warned, “the world goes up in smoke.”

Trump told Vance to “have fun” when he was asked what advice he would give, praising his running mate as a “warrior.”

Harris for her part pledged her “unwavering” commitment to the security of Israel after Iran launched what she called “a reckless and brazen attack” on America’s ally.

The CBS clash comes as several states dig out from enormous storm Helene, which has left at least 150 people dead and brought misery to many thousands more.

‘High drama’ 

Walz and Vance were each picked by their bosses to reach out to voters in the Midwestern battlegrounds where, thanks to the country’s idiosyncratic electoral college system, a few thousand votes could determine who wins the White House race.

Both are military veterans with strong blue-collar credentials. Vance authored the Rust Belt memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” while Walz boasts a folksy persona as a former teacher and football coach.

The similarities end there.

The combative Vance shares Trump’s penchant for courting controversy, whether by smearing Democrats as “childless cat ladies” or by boosting false claims that Haitians living in an Ohio town ate residents’ pets.

His goal will be to overcome polls that initially had him as one of the least popular VP nominees in history after a series of previous comments on women and abortion were unearthed.

“Vance has to be careful because I think a trap has been laid for him,” said Whalen.

The cheery Walz will be seeking to introduce himself to a public that barely knows him, after Harris’s swift rise to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee.

He became a hit with Democrats for branding Vance and Trump “weird” and for his progressive politics — but that will be a target for Vance as he and Trump seek to paint Walz and Harris as “Marxists.”

Vance “is going up against a moron, a total moron,” Trump said in an interview Monday on Fox Nation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (right) smiles as AFSCME President Lee Saunders (left) applauds at the 46th International Convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) at the Los Angeles Convention Center on August 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images via AFP

The running mates of White House rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have agreed to face off in at least one vice-presidential debate, accepting an invitation from CBS News for an October 1 showdown.

CBS posted Wednesday (August 14, 2024) on social media platform X that it had offered four potential debates in September and October to Democratic Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Ohio’s Republican senator J.D. Vance.

“See you on October 1, JD,” Mr. Walz replied, before the Harris campaign officially confirmed that it had accepted the date, which comes after early voting has already started in several states.

Mr. Vance said Thursday (August 15, 2024) he had also accepted the October 1 invitation, and suggested an earlier debate on September 18 that had been offered by CNN, arguing the “American people deserve as many debates as possible.”

There had been some doubt over whether the encounter would take place at all.

Mr. Vance confirmed he was open to October 1 in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday (August 14, 2024) but said he would not do “one of these fake debates… where they don’t actually have an audience,” like the June 27 encounter between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden.

Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump are set to stage their own debate on September 10, hosted by ABC News, and the Vice President has said she is open to looking at her opponent’s suggestions for further showdowns.

Ms. Harris’s late entry into the race — replacing President Joe Biden after his withdrawal amid concerns over his age and unpopularity — has effectively turned it into the kind of sprint to election day more common in Europe.

Already a trailblazer as the first female and first Black and South Asian Vice President, Ms. Harris is aiming to make history as the first woman President — and is scrambling to pitch herself to the public ahead of November 5.

She and Mr. Walz head to the national convention in Chicago next week on the back of a blockbuster start, in which they have reversed Mr. Trump’s polling leads, obliterated fundraising records and attracted huge ebullient crowds to their rallies.

In almost all of the swing states that decide the contest in U.S. elections, Ms. Harris is now level or ahead of Mr. Trump, who shocked the world with his 2016 presidential victory but was beaten by Mr. Biden in 2020.