Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz and his Republican opponent JD Vance debated each other on Wednesday, as millions of Americans tuned in for the first and possibly 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 mostly engaged in debating policy issues.
Rather than engage in vilification, both candidates stuck to their criticism of the opposing presidential candidate. The debate came as a surprise to most people, especially after a month-long ugly and divisive election campaign – which saw personal attacks, abusive 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 have also, in the past, attacked each other on the campaign trail, but for the vice presidential debate, they spoke in a respectful tone.
Hottest exchange of debate
The debate was cordial and mostly focused on policy matters, but there were some tense moments towards the end when the Republican candidate was asked a question on whether he agreed that Donald Trump lost the 2020 US election.
During the debate Mr. Vance, who has said he would not have voted to certify the results of the last presidential election, asked whether he would challenge this year’s vote if Donald Trump loses the election. The question was avoided.
Mr Walz responded by blaming Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud, which incited the mob attack on the US Capitol in January, 2021, in an effort to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020. Was.
“He’s still saying he (Trump) didn’t lose the election,” Mr Walz said, blaming Mr Vance. After this he directly asked his opponent, “Did he (Trump) lose the 2020 election?” The debate was at its most intense exchange when the Republican nominee again dodged the question and accused Kamala Harris of censoring opposing views online.
“This is a blatant non-answer,” Mr. Walz exclaimed.
Criticizing JD Vance, Tim Walz said, “He is still saying that he (Trump) did not lose the 2020 election.”
The two candidates, with vastly different views on every subject, debated each other on a range of topics – from inflation to immigration, taxes to the economy, abortion to gender issues, the Middle East crisis and even climate. Until change.
punches and counter punches
Picking on each other’s presidential candidate and what they perceived to be his weaknesses, Mr. Walz and Mr. Vance both dodged verbal jabs that came their way and responded in equal measure.
Describing Donald Trump as an “unstable” leader who prioritizes the interests of billionaires before those of ordinary people, Mr Walz attacked Donald Trump over his policy on immigration. He criticized the former president for “putting pressure on Republicans in Congress” to abandon a bipartisan bill on border security.
“Donald Trump had four years to do this. He promised Americans how easy it would be.”
Mr Vance took a dig at Democrats over the problems with inflation and the economy and repeatedly questioned Kamala Harris about why she had not done enough to address these important issues in the four years she was vice president in the Biden administration.
Vance and Walz also clashed over serious global issues, particularly the crises in Europe and West Asia.
“If Kamala Harris has such big plans to address the problems of the middle class, she should do them now — not for a promotion, but in the job the American people gave her 3-1/2 years ago ,” Mr. Vance said.
The two also clashed over global issues, especially the crises in Europe and West Asia. Mr Walz called Donald Trump “very flippant” and “sympathetic” to powerhouses like Putin and Netanyahu and said Trump could not be trusted to handle the conflict-ridden region. Mr Vance rejected these claims and said that while Mr Trump was president, he had made the world “a more secure place” during his tenure 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 organized by the American television network CBS. He also called Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz a man of “low IQ” and also called him “pathetic”.
During the debate, Republican candidate J.D. Vance, once a staunch opponent of Trump, 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 began to explain to her “First of all, I was wrong, because I believe some of the media stories about his record were dishonestly fabricated. But the most important thing is that Donald Trump worked for the American people. “
‘Minnesota Nice’ debate
The vice presidential debate pitted Democratic nominee Tim Walz, 60, a former high school teacher and current governor of Minnesota with liberal views, and his Republican opponent J.D. Vance, 40, a former venture capitalist, bestselling author and conservative firebrand U.S. senator from Ohio. Was between. With some very conservative views on issues like abortion.
Although both candidates portrayed themselves as sons of America’s Midwestern heartland, each held deeply opposing views on nearly every major issue that continues to plague the widely polarized United States.
Overall both candidates appeared calm and polite throughout the debate, displaying a ‘Minnesota Nice’ attitude.
While both candidates tried to out-do each other by jabbing the opponent from time to time, overall both men appeared calm and polite, displaying a ‘Minnesota Nice’ attitude throughout the debate, sometimes a- Also thanked others.
At the end of the debate, reports and surveys suggested that neither candidate delivered a ‘knockout punch’ to the other, nor could one overpower the other, resulting in a balanced debate and no clear winner.
Political analysts believe that vice presidential debates generally do not change the outcome of a presidential election. That said, even the slightest change in public opinion could prove decisive in the race five weeks before Election Day.
