Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota squared off in a Vice Presidential debate Tuesday night, making their cases for why they’d make a better team with their respective running mates in the White House.
Moderated by CBS, the Vice presidential hopefuls debated a range of the most important issues from the two wars abroad, to abortion, to inflation, with much more civilized conversation and more positive tone than the presidential debate.
Since Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump declined an offer for a third debate, last night’s Vice Presidential debate might be the final one before election day on Tuesday, November 5th. Before voters go to the ballots though, it’s important to know where the candidates stand on every single major issue.
The Economy / Inflation
A top issue among voters of many diverse backgrounds, the two candidates went back and forth on the state of the economy, with JD Vance blaming the current vice president and Tim Walz accusing the former president of giving tax cuts to the most wealthy.
“A lot of what Kamala Harris proposes to do, and some of it I’ll be honest with you it even sounds pretty good, but what you won’t hear is that she’s already done it,” JD Vance remarked about Kamala’s economic plans. “She’s been the Vice President for three-and-a-half years, she had the opportunity to enact all of these policies, and what she’s done instead is drive the cost of food higher by 25%, drive the cost of housing higher by 60%.”
Tim Walz remarked back about how Trump’s tax plan gave tax cuts to the rich. “If you’re listening tonight and you want billionaires to get tax cuts,” Trump is your candidate, the Governor said, “How is it fair that you’re paying your taxes every year and Donald Trump hasn’t paid any federal tax in the last 15 years?”
Illegal Immigration/Border Security
Another top issue this election year, JD Vance criticized his Democratic opponent over Harris’s 2020 campaign to end former president Donald Trump’s border bills.
“We have a historic immigration crisis because Kamala Harris said that she wanted to undo all of Donald Trump’s border policies,” the Senator alleged. “94 executive orders suspending deportations, decriminalizing illegal aliens, massively increasing the asylum fraud in our system. That has opened the floodgates.”
The Governor fought back and ripped Trump for the Senate border bill that was voted against, and Trump was blamed for.
“We had the fairest and the toughest bill on immigration that this nation has seen,” Tim Walz responded. “As soon as we were getting ready to pass and tackle this, Donald Trump said no and told them to vote against it.”
Abortion/Women’s Healthcare
Perhaps one of the Democrat’s strongest issues, Tim Walz bashed Vance on the issue of women’s healthcare and Roe V. Wade, citing women who have died as a result of being denied care during miscarriages.
“Trump brags about how great it was that he put the judges in and overturned Roe v Wade”, Walz said.
Vance defended his running mate though, saying that both he and Trump would win back women’s trust and be “pro-family at the fullest extent.”
Israel
After the recent failed missile attacks at Israel, the candidates were challenged on whether they would support Israel’s right to defend their state, which both confirmed.
“Israel’s right to defend itself is absolutely fundamental,” Governor Walz said. JD Vance also expressed support for Israel and reminded viewers of world peace under Trump.
“When was the last time that an American president did not have a major conflict break out,” he asked. “The only answer is during the four years Donald Trump was president.”
Closing Statements
At the end of the debate, the candidates gave their closing statements summarizing why they believe that their team is the best to be put in the White House. Governor Tim Walz went first, and Senator JD Vance went last.
“The support of a democracy matters,” Walz began in his statements. “It matters that you’re here. And I’m as surprised as anybody of this coalition that Kamala Harris has built, from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift, and a whole bunch of folks in between. And they don’t all agree on everything, but they are truly optimistic people. They believe in a positive future for this country, and where our politics can be better than it is. And that better than it is the sense of optimism that there can be an opportunity economy that works for everyone, not just to get by but to get ahead.”
After Walz’s remarks, JD Vance gave his closing statements.
“I believe as a person that wants to be your next vice president that we are a rich and prosperous enough nation that whether you’re rich or poor you ought to be able to turn on your heat in a cold winter night, that’s gotten more difficult under Kamala Harris’s energy policies. I believe that whether you’re rich or poor, you ought to be able to afford a meal for your families, that’s gotten harder under Kamala Harris’s policies, I believe that whether you’re rich or poor you ought to be able to afford to buy a house, to live in safe neighborhoods, and that too has gotten harder under Kamala Harris’s policies.”
