Vance and Walz face off in vice presidential debate oct. 1
Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz engaged in heated conversation Oct. 1 at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York, New York for the first and last 2024 vice presidential debate.
The debate was moderated by Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan. O’Donnell is an anchor for “CBS Evening News” as well as the managing editor. Brennan serves as the chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS and moderates the network’s “Face the Nation” segment, according to a report by CBS News.
The debate’s topics included the Israel-Hamas war, climate change, the border crisis, new economic policies, reproductive rights and each candidate’s closing remarks.
Brennan opened the debate by describing Iran’s recent attack on Israel and how the United States’ military has worked to aid Israel since the war began last October. Brennan asked Walz if he would “support or oppose a preemptive strike by Israel on Iran.”
“Israel’s ability to be able to defend itself is absolutely fundamental, … and ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, (is fundamental),” Walz said.
Walz said it is important for the U.S. and Israel to have a strong working relationship to ensure that Israel can defend itself from further attacks. He then pivoted to criticizing former President Donald Trump’s credibility to serve in the White House since in the past his previous national security advisers and Vance said he is not suitable to be president.
Vance rebutted Walz’s defamatory comments about Trump by describing his running mate’s stance on strengthening America’s defense systems to prevent foreign attacks.
“Donald Trump recognized that for people to fear the United States you needed peace through strength, they (other countries) needed to recognize that if they got out of line, the United States’ global leadership would put stability and peace back in the world,” Vance said.
However, Vance, like Walz, said that it is Israel’s prerogative to protect itself from international attacks and that the U.S. should remain allied with Israel.
The conversation switched over to the matter of climate change after O’Donnell asked the candidates what they would do to mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
Vance said that he and Trump want to help those suffering from the impacts of Hurricane Helene. He criticized the Democratic Party’s stance on the issue since Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies seem to encourage business and manufacturing overseas, therefore contributing to excess carbon emissions and worsening the issue instead of fixing it.
“If we actually care about getting cleaner air and cleaner water, the best thing to do is to double down and invest in American workers and the American people, and unfortunately Kamala Harris has done exactly the opposite,” Vance said.
Walz affirmed some of Vance’s points by agreeing that limiting carbon emissions and increasing solar panel manufacturing in the U.S. will benefit the country. However, Walz also said climate change is an ongoing struggle by claiming the “500-year” droughts and floods that farmers have dealt with as evidence for the issue.
“The solution for us is to continue to move forward, that climate change is real, reducing our impact is absolutely critical,” Walz said.
The mainly civil debate grew more intense when the vice-presidential candidates stated their opinions about the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Vance said “we have to stop the bleeding” at the border by resecuring the border and tackling the fentanyl crisis.
Vance said that he and Trump believe the deportation of illegal immigrants who have committed various crimes while residing in the U.S. is the first step for solving the border crisis. The Republican candidate also claimed Harris’ open border policies have been a leading cause for children who have been separated from their families and who have become trafficking victims. According to Vance, a return to Trump’s border policies is the primary answer to the border crisis.
Walz rebutted Vance’s remarks by claiming that children have not been used as drug mules at the border. The democratic candidate said that Harris’ background as the attorney general for California makes her suitable for fixing the problems with immigration.
Walz said that Trump’s decision to not sign Sen. James Lankford’s “Border Act” bill worsened the issue and merely helped to support to the Trump campaign. Walz said that the border crisis solution will be fixed by Harris because she is willing to sign new legislature about this issue.
The next major point of discussion circled around each candidate’s differing viewpoints regarding abortion. According to FOX News, Walz called for a “restoration of Roe v. Wade” while Vance disagreed and emphasized pro-life values. Vance challenged Walz’s support of a law in Minnesota that “does not require doctors to save a baby who survives an abortion,” and Walz claimed that Vance’s interpretation of the abortion law was false, according to a report by FOX News.
As the debate neared its end, each candidate gave their closing remarks and called on the viewers watching at home to carefully consider who they vote for on election day. After the debate, both candidates continued on the campaign trail Oct. 2 with Vance speaking in Michigan and Walz speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, according to The Guardian and The New York Times.
Davis is the Editor in Chief for the Liberty Champion.
