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photo-article-logo Sunday, 22 December 2024

Iran nuclear deal becomes Walz's weapon, Vance defends Trump's 'peaceful' foreign policy

The duo engage in fiery vice presidential debate on various issues including, Middle East crisis, immigration, taxes, abortion, climate change, and the economy

Reuters New York Published 02.10.24, 11:27 AM

U.S. Senator JD Vance, Republican Donald Trump's pick as his vice presidential running mate, squared off against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who Democrat Kamala Harris tapped to be her No. 2, in a nationally televised debate on Tuesday.

The debate is likely the final one of the 2024 presidential campaign, potentially giving it some additional weight ahead of the November 5 election.

Here are some takeaways from the event in New York:

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Combination image of Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) attending a debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz hosted by CBS in New York, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Bob and Weave at the opening bell

The first question of the debate related to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, asking both men if they would support a preemptive strike by Israel on Iran to disrupt the development of the latter's nuclear program.

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Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) speak at the end of the Vice Presidential debate hosted by CBS in New York, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Neither candidate was eager to answer.

A visibly nervous Walz dodged the question, pivoting to a critique of Trump's record during his four years in office.

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Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz gestures as he speaks during a debate with Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) hosted by CBS in New York, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

"What's fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter," Walz said. "It's clear, and the world saw it on that debate stage a few weeks ago, a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need in this moment."

Vance appeared to rib Walz for not addressing the question head on, but then segued into a description of his biography.

"My mother required food assistance for periods of her life," said Vance, who grew up in a working-class Ohio household.

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Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) walks after attending a debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (not pictured) hosted by CBS in New York, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Vance did eventually circle back to the question, saying a second Trump administration would support Israel's decision on the matter. But not before he offered an extended defense of Trump's foreign policy, characterizing his time in office as extraordinarily peaceful.

In the opening exchange, at least, the candidates were less eager to dive into policy details than they were in litigating Trump's legacy and introducing themselves to Americans.

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People attend a watch party event coordinated by the Minnesota Democratic party and the Harris-Walz campaign to watch Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz debate Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Seeking a moment

Walz was asked about a report on Tuesday that he was not in China during the violent 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, as he had previously claimed.

“I’m a knucklehead at times,” he said. “I got there that summer and misspoke on this. So I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests, and from that I learned a lot about what it means to be in governance.”

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People watch the debate between Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) and Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz hosted by CBS, at the Gaf East Bar in Manhattan, in New York City, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Vance, meanwhile, defended his running mate despite having criticized Trump ahead of the 2016 election.

“I was wrong about Donald Trump,” he said. “I was wrong, first of all, because I believe some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record. But most importantly, Donald Trump delivered for the American people.”

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Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance shake hands at the end of the Vice Presidential debate hosted by CBS in New York, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Despite Vance’s having written “Hillbilly Elegy,” a popular 2016 memoir, U.S. voters have a negative view of him, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with 51% of registered voters saying they view him unfavorably, compared with 39% who view him favorably. Meanwhile Walz was viewed favorably by 44% of registered voters, with 43% reporting an unfavorable view in the Sept. 20-23 poll.

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Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) gestures as he speaks during a debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz hosted by CBS in New York, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

The 'Harris Administration'

Joe Biden has been president of the U.S. for almost four years, but you would never have known that listening to Vance. And that was by design.

Early in the debate, Vance continually implied that Harris, as vice president, has been a primary decision maker in the White House on issues such as immigration and the war in Gaza. At one point, Vance referred to the “administration of Kamala Harris” and later he referred to when Harris “came into office.”

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A screen shows the U.S. Vice Presidential debate between Republican vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance (R-OH) and Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, outside the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

It is a strategy the Trump campaign has long employed on the campaign trail — an attempt to make Harris inherit Biden’s political liabilities. In his debate with Harris, Trump largely failed to make that connection for viewers at home. But at rallies since then, he has repeatedly suggested that Harris has had more than three years to fix the nation’s problems.

Vance said something similar in a debate answer on the economy. "If Kamala Harris has such great plans for how to address middle class problems, then she ought to do them now,” he said.

It is a tactic that has not completely borne fruit, however. Opinion polls have shown that voters largely do not blame Harris for Biden’s economic and immigration policies, allowing her to cut into Trump’s advantages on those issues.

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Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his wife Gwen and Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance stand onstage at the end of a debate hosted by CBS in New York, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Rough patches

Both Walz and Vance tried to explain away past statements that undercut their credibility.

For Walz, it was media reports this week that he was not in Hong Kong in June 1989 during the deadly uprising at Tiananmen Square in China, despite having said several times he was there on a teaching trip. In fact, Walz was in Nebraska at the time and did not travel to Hong Kong until August of that year.

Asked about the misleading claim, Walz delivered a meandering answer about growing up in a small town and being elected to Congress.

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Screens show the U.S. Vice Presidential debate between Republican vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance (R-OH) and Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, outside the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

“I’ve not been perfect, and I’m a knucklehead at times,” Walz said.

Walz, a former high school football coach, may have been trying to run down the clock. Finally, when pressed by the CBS News moderator, he said, “I got there that summer and misspoke on this.”

Vance was again asked to reconcile his past criticism of Trump, including comparing him to Adolf Hitler, with his current position as No. 2 on the Republican ticket.

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Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) gestures as he speaks during a debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (not pictured) hosted by CBS in New York, U.S., October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

“I was wrong about Donald Trump,” Vance said, adding Trump “delivered for the American people” on a lot of things “that I didn’t think he’d be able to deliver on.”

We need change, says JD Vance

In his final remarks during the vice presidential debate, JD Vance said he believes every American, whether they’re rich or poor, deserves to have basic needs met.

"I believe that whether you’re rich or poor, you ought to be able to afford a house, you ought to be able to live in safe neighbourhoods, you ought to not have your communities flooded with fentanyl, and that too has gotten harder because of Kamala Harris’ policies," Vance said.

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