Daily Show does what it can with the Walz-Vance debate

What is that? A Tuesday Daily Show update? There must have been something of modest importance this evening. Yes, dear reader. Very modest. Tonight’s vice presidential debate between Governor Tim Walz and Senator JD Vance on CBS took place without fact checking, giving Vance the opportunity to prove he doesn’t know what a vice president does and giving Walz the opportunity to agree with Vance whenever possible was. The Daily Show was live to give meaning to an event that can best be described as “boring as shit.”

Host Michael Kosta took his place at the desk (isn’t it fun to check in on different hosts) and did his best to find insight into this story. Kosta’s laid-back buddy style was the perfect solution to an election event that probably doesn’t matter, won’t influence voters and doesn’t even need to happen. But since we are legally obligated to listen to Vance downplay January 6th, let’s get started.

While the show was live, The Daily Show I didn’t just watch the debate. The episode began with a conversation with protesters outside the event, where a “we’re not going back” and “suck my dick” clash raged in the streets, but it wasn’t reflected at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. “It was surprising to see that these two candidates were polite to each other even though they had different opinions,” Kosta said. “It was surprising and, for me personally, pretty darn boring.”

The left one Daily Show didn’t let Walz get away easily. Kosta investigated why Tim Walz believed he was a bad debater, and Walz was given the chance to prove it. Kosta focused on Walz’s answer to the question about whether he traveled to China in the spring or summer of 1989, which is somewhat controversial, and was able to recognize the lousy debater that Walz supposedly warned Kamala Harris about. Luckily, Walz has charm, and as Kosta noted, the governor has stolen many of the Republican mannerisms, such as his folksy demeanor and use of a practical knowledge of the Bible. “What’s next?” Kosta said. “He’ll find out he’s the webmaster of NudeAfrica.com.”

After spending the last five years on the podcast scene, Vance felt comfortable dehumanizing immigrants but less comfortable answering the question of whether he would separate children from their parents at the border. He also couldn’t answer a simple question like “Who won the 2020 election?” But without Trump’s flop sweat, Vance deftly pivoted around questions about January 6, abortion, immigration and the time he called Trump “Hilter.” He often wondered why Kamala Harris hasn’t already fixed this or that problem, suggesting that he doesn’t yet have a good handle on the position he’s currently applying for.

“Vance did a great job in the debate,” Kosta said. “He was smooth. He was confident. He was prepared. The only problem was his memory.” When Vance boldly declared that the Trump administration had brought peace around the world, Kosta noted that there isn’t even peace in this country.

Ultimately, this debate hit differently because it was so warm. There were no conspiratorial outbursts, no arguments over golf handicaps or strange persecution of the Democratic candidate. Sure, there was that moment when the anchors gleefully turned off the candidate’s microphones, but that was only because CBS stupidly decided not to fact-check live. This is our third presidential election cycle with Donald Trump at the center, and as Kosta noted, it’s the first time we’ve seen a little Midwestern friendliness among the candidates. The word of the night was “agree,” which is strange. But Michigan-born Kosta knows what “Midwestern Nice” actually means.

“The thing I took away from this debate was that these two men made the Midwest proud,” Kosta said. “This debate was an oasis of Midwestern beauty, and just like Midwestern beauty, it was a mask that covered deep-seated hatred and resentment.”