By: Sahil Muthukrishnan

Sports Editor

On Oct. 1, the Democratic vice presidential candidate Timothy J. Walz and Republican vice presidential candidate James D. (JD) Vance faced off in their first vice presidential debate. CBS News hosted the debate in Studio 24 of the historic CBS News Broadcasting Center in New York. New York has not hosted a presidential or vice presidential debate since the 1960s. Anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan moderated the debate. More than 43 million people across the country tuned in to watch. 

The debate began with the candidates’ introductions and a cordial handshake between the two men. The moderators posed questions about the candidates’ policies and those of their presidential counterparts. Each candidate responded to questions with a two-minute answer. After their response, the second candidate could rebut the previous one’s answer. The candidates then each received one additional minute to expand upon their points at the moderators’ discretion. In his opening comments, Minnesotan Senator Walz opened by attacking former President Donald Trump’s qualification for office, stating, “Those…closest to Donald Trump…understand how dangerous he is…his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, said that he [is] the most flawed human being he’d ever met…both of his Secretaries of Defense…said he should be nowhere near the White House.” Walz praised Vice President Kamala Harris for her handling of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Senator Vance used his response time to introduce himself to the American people and denounce Harris while uplifting Trump, answering, “Donald Trump…delivered stability in the world…he did it by establishing effective deterrence…Iran, which launched this attack, has received over $100 billion…thanks to the…Harris administration…They use [this] to buy weapons that they’re now launching against our allies and, God forbid, potentially launching against the United States.” 

Walz and Vance also battled over the issue of immigration. Vance opened by critiquing Harris, saying, “We have a historic immigration crisis because Kamala Harris…said…she wanted to undo all of Donald Trump’s border policies. 94 executive orders suspending deportations, decriminalizing illegal aliens, massively increasing the asylum fraud that exists in our system, that has opened the floodgates.” Walz then fired back, defending Harris: “Kamala Harris was the Attorney General of the largest state and a border state in California. She’s the only person in this race who prosecuted transnational gangs for human trafficking and drug interventions.” The candidates went on to debate other keys topics including abortion and the economy.

Notably, this vice presidential debate was considered more respectful than the presidential debate between Former President Trump and Vice President Harris, giving many hope that debates going forward will be handled more cordially. The general consensus was that both candidates made strong cases for their election. The debate about which party won was split, but most agreed that neither won decisively. As recent polls between Harris and Trump remain close, this year’s race will surely be exciting.

[Sources: CBS News]