US vice presidential contenders JD Vance and Tim Walz discussed the Middle East crisis on Tuesday in what could be an unusually important undercard debate, competing for decisive votes just weeks before the election.
The clash between Democratic Minnesota Governor Walz, elected by Kamala Harris, and Republican Senator Vance of Ohio, Donald Trump’s running mate, is likely to be the last of the 2024 campaign.
Trump has ruled out a second debate with Vice President Harris, meaning this could be the last chance to see both tickets face off.
The first question of the night was on Iran’s missile attack on Israel and Walz immediately launched into his own attack on Trump’s foreign policy record, criticizing the former president for “turning to Vladimir Putin of Russia” and calling for the United States’ withdrawal from the US since 2015. Condemned for. The Iran nuclear disarmament agreement, known as the JCPOA.
Vance countered, “As much as Governor Walz accused Donald Trump of being an agent of chaos, Donald Trump actually provided stability in the world.”
“And they did this by setting up effective deterrence. People were afraid to go out of line.”
Vance, 40, and Walz, 60, each claim to be the true voice of key swing states — including Michigan and Wisconsin — that could decide an election that remains on a knife’s edge with just five weeks to go.
History shows that vice presidential debates rarely move much of the conversation forward. But in an election campaign that has seen Harris move unexpectedly late into the game for President Joe Biden, Tuesday’s contest could take on increased significance.
Biden offered words of encouragement to Walz, telling him in a post on X before their big night: “Coach, I’ve got your back tonight!”
The race has seen Vance and Trump employ 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 appetite for November 5,” Thomas Whalen, an associate professor of social sciences at Boston University, told AFP.
But the debate risked being overshadowed by Mideast tensions after Iran launched ballistic missiles against Israel, which it said largely repelled the attack.
Trump focused on the crisis while visiting swing state Wisconsin on Tuesday, insisting that “if I were in charge, today’s attack on Israel would never have happened.”
If Harris and Walz win, he warned, “the world will go up in smoke.”
When asked what advice he would give Vance, Trump said, “Have fun,” while praising his teammate as a “warrior.”
Harris, for her part, expressed her “unwavering” commitment to Israel’s security after Iran launched a “reckless and brazen attack” on America’s ally.
The CBS clash comes as several states are grappling with Hurricane Helen, which has killed at least 150 people and left thousands stranded.
‘High Drama’
Walz and Vance were hand-picked by their bosses to reach out to voters in Midwestern battleground states, where, thanks to the country’s unique Electoral College system, a few thousand votes could determine who wins the race for the White House.
Both are military veterans with strong blue-collar credentials. Vance wrote the Rust Belt memoir “Hillbilly Elegy”, while Walz claims a popular persona as a former teacher and football coach.
The similarities end here.
The combative Vance shares Trump’s penchant for stoking controversy, whether by denigrating Democrats as “childless cat ladies” or promoting false claims that Haitians living in an Ohio city eat residents’ pets.
His goal will be to overcome polls that initially pegged him as one of the least popular VP candidates in history after a series of past comments on women and abortion emerged.
“Vance has to be careful because I think a trap has been set for him,” Whalen said.
Following Harris’s rapid emergence as the Democratic nominee to replace Biden, a jubilant Walz would like to introduce herself to a public that barely knows her.
He became popular among Democrats for labeling Vance and Trump as “weird” and for their progressive politics – but this would be a target for Vance as he and Trump seek to portray Walz and Harris as “Marxists”.
Trump, in an interview on Fox Nation on Monday, said Vance was “going up against a fool, a complete fool.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
