Vance and Walz take the podium in the vice presidential debate and discuss gun regulation, abortion and the economy

Although initially it was expected that it would be even more explosive than the presidential duel last monthTuesday night’s vice presidential debate between Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance and Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz was surprisingly cordial.

At the debate moderated by CBS News at 9 p.m. in New York City – which was likely the last debate of this election cycle – both Vance and Walz spoke directly to the American public, staring directly into the camera and even using “you” in address the listeners personally with their respective statements.

Vance, former President Donald Trump’s vice president, often spoke of making the “American dream” a reality again through Trump’s campaign. The Ohio State graduate also frequently accused Vice President Kamala Harris of being hypocritical for failing to implement many of her policy points as a presidential candidate during her four-year term alongside President Joe Biden.

Walz initially stumbled more over his words than his opponent, but eventually he got back into the swing of things. As Harris’ running mate, Walz spoke out when he believed he and Vance agreed on certain issues, even saying at one point that he agreed with several of his opponent’s comments, but that “[Vance’s] The vice president is the problem.”

Although debate rules stipulated that both candidates’ microphones would remain on during the 90-minute session, CBS reserved the right to turn off the sound if speaking out of turn became an issue. In fact, both microphones were briefly turned off after Vance challenged a fact check by hosts Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan.

What’s notable is that both candidates struggled to find consistency between their respective agendas.

In response to the high costs of homeownership and rent, Vance agreed with Walz that housing should not be viewed as a commodity. Walz also agreed with Vance on foreign policy issues, saying he did not want to excessively ship goods abroad.

Hurricane Helene and climate change

When asked about scientists’ claims that climate change may have worsened the effects of Hurricane Helene, Vance said he was “sure Gov. Walz agrees with that.” [him] “about the tragedy” that so many citizens died as a result of the natural disaster.

Later, Vance addressed his “Democratic friends” and their concerns about climate change, clarifying that both he and Trump support clean air and water, but believe that the right way to address concerns about carbon emissions is to do so is to relocate as much American production as possible.

Vance said that, in contrast to Harris’ policies, if the American public cares about climate change, the best thing to do is to “duplicate efforts” and invest in American workers.

Walz said climate change must be combated by minimizing human impact on the environment, but this can be achieved while creating jobs; In fact, he said that the Harris administration has done this so far and will continue to do so if elected to the Oval Office.

Immigration and border crisis

Vance said: “[he’d] questions [his] “All fellow Americans should remember” that Harris fulfilled her promise to reverse many of Trump’s immigration policies, which he said “opened the floodgates” to the current border crisis. Vance said that if elected, he and Trump would work to reinstate the former president’s immigration policies.

“We have to stop the bleeding,” Vance said.

Walz turned to the bipartisan Border Security Act — or what he called “the fairest, toughest immigration bill the nation has ever seen” — which he said Trump directed Republican congressmen to kill to maintain the border crisis as a campaign issue. If elected, Walz said, Harris would sign a similar bill.

“We could come together and solve the problem if we didn’t let Donald Trump continue to make it an issue,” Walz said.

Springfield, Ohio, received another round of applause, but this time Vance kept pets out of the conversation. Instead, he said Springfield is an example of a community that lacks sufficient public resources to care for its residents “because of immigrants.”

Interestingly, each candidate said they believed the other wanted to solve this problem, but their respective candidates did not.

Business

While Walz criticized Trump’s granting of tax cuts to the rich – which he said contributed to an $8 trillion increase in the national debt – Vance again focused on how Harris has been in office for three and a half years, saying: “If [she] Had such big plans on how to address the problems of the middle class, she should implement them now.”

“We will return to that common sense wisdom so that you can afford to live that American dream again,” Vance said.

Walz said Trump’s belief that he has “all the answers” as president is problematic, pointing to Trump’s repeated claims that various economic experts cannot be trusted.

In response, Vance said that these experts have “lied in the past” about what would strengthen the middle class.

“Donald Trump had the wisdom and the courage to say to this bipartisan consensus, ‘We’re not doing this anymore,'” Vance said.

Abortion and women’s reproductive rights

Walz opened the conversation by sharing the stories of women who were negatively impacted by the overturn of Roe vs. Wade. He criticized Trump’s claims that abortion is best left in the hands of states, claiming that the “what’s right for one state may not be right for another” argument was illegitimate.

“That’s not how it works, these are basic human rights,” Walz said.

Vance explicitly stated that he and the Trump administration would not create a federal pregnancy surveillance agency — contrary to the purported agenda of the right-wing political initiative Project 2025 — and that he wanted to be “family-friendly in the truest sense of the word” and give women more options.

In what may have been a surprising change in rhetoric to many, Vance looked directly into the camera to personally address a woman in his life who had an abortion and said, “I love you.” He then said, the Republican The party must work hard if it wants to regain the public’s trust on this issue.

“We need to do a much better job to regain the trust of the American people,” Vance said.

Still, Vance maintained his stance that individual states should dictate their own abortion policies.

Responding to Vance’s claims that he and Trump were committed to pursuing “pro-family initiatives,” Walz said reinstating Roe v. Wade and providing more federal funding to support children and families are not mutually exclusive.

“We are not pro-abortion, we are pro-women,” Walz said.

Gun legislation

Although Vance said the country needs to better respond to the gun crisis, he quickly brought the issue back to immigration, claiming the number of “illegal guns” in the United States is higher today than it was before the Biden-Harris administration.

To address this problem, Vance said the country needs “bipartisan, common-sense solutions,” which he said include increasing security in schools by strengthening door locks and windows.

Walz said he believes Vance wants to combat this crisis, but his proposed solutions are not enough, especially when there are mechanisms like red flag laws and universal background checks.

“Do you want your schools fortified to look like fortresses?” Walz said. “These are things that shouldn’t be so difficult.”

Final remarks

Both candidates thanked each other, CBS and the American public for the opportunity to debate.

In her closing comments to viewers, Walz said Vance has proven he will stand behind Trump’s agenda, while Vance said the country needs a president who has successfully led the American people before.