Five Takeaways From Vance-Walz VP Debate: Walz Crumbles, Moderators Get Fact-Checked

Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz squared off for their first, and likely only, debate on Tuesday night. Here are five thoughts on what went down:

Tim Walz looked uncomfortable

While Walz was hardly Biden in July bad, but the governor was unimpressive. He looked unsteady on stage, often making weird facial expressions while rapidly jotting down notes after nearly every answer.

He looked like a candidate who had not done the usual number of media interviews, nationally or locally, to prepare him for the debate. Go figure.

The jittery candidate's weakest moment came when the moderators pressed him on new reports that contradicted his previous claim that he was "in Hong Kong" during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989.

Walz responded by saying he can be a "knucklehead."

"All I said on this was, I got there that summer and misspoke on this, so I will just – that’s what I’ve said," Walz added, "I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests went in. And from that, I learned a lot of what needed to be in, in governance."

"My community knows who I am. They saw where I was at. Look, I will be the first to tell you, I have poured my heart into my community. I’ve tried to do the best I can, but I’ve not been perfect, and I’m a knucklehead at times, but it’s always been about that. Those same people elected me to Congress for 12 years."

Later, Walz did oddly declare himself a "friend of school shooters" when asked about his support for an assault weapons ban.

"Yeah, I sat in that office with those Sandy Hook parents. I’ve become friends with school shooters. I’ve seen it. Look, the NRA, I was an NRA guy for a long time. They used to teach gun safety. I’m of an age where my shotgun was in my car so I could pheasant hunt after football practice. That’s not where we live today."

A knucklehead, indeed.

JD Vance made MAGA heir case

Imagine all the people who lazily and only get their news from the legacy media. They’ve been told for months that JD Vance is some weird, unhinged fascist. 

Those people were likely quite surprised by the candidate they saw on stage Tuesday night.

Vance put forth one of the better debate performances in recent memory, certainly the most impressive of the three debates this year (the first two presidential debates and the vice presidential debate).

At just 40 years old, Vance's impressive performance could go a long way in further establishing himself as the future of the MAGA movement, post-Donald Trump.

A win in November would also help.

The senator is a skilled communicator who echoed much of Trump's campaign messaging on clean energy, controlled borders, and America First policies – but in his signature cool and collected tone.

During the debate, Vance highlighted what remains the most under-discussed topic heading into November, a topic that should unite voters of all political affiliations: the Democratic Party's subversion of the First Amendment.

"Kamala Harris is engaged in censorship at an industrial scale. She did it during COVID. She's done it on a number of other issues," Vance reminded voters. "That is a much bigger threat to democracy than what Donald Trump said when he said protesters should peacefully protest on January 6th."

Put simply, free speech is on the ballot in 2024.

Vance's closing statement drove home the issue on which the Harris campaign is undoubtedly the weakest: cost of living.

"I meet people on the campaign trail who can't afford food but have the grace to ask me how I'm doing and to tell me they're praying for my family. We have the most incredible people anywhere in the world. But they're not going to be able to achieve their full dreams with the broken leadership we have in Washington," said Vance.

"We need a new direction. We need a president who has already done this once before and did it well. Please vote for Donald Trump. And whether you vote for me or vote for Tim Walz, I just want to say, I'm so proud to be doing this, and I'm rooting for you. God bless you and goodnight."

Another embarrassing performance by the moderators

Coming into the night, CBS said that debate moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan would not fact-check the candidates. However, according to Mediaite, the network told the moderators they'd have the discretion to step in if something is "egregious."

Translation: O’Donnell and Brennan were always going to try and influence the debate.

They definitely tried. And even muted Vance's mic.

Take a look:

Even Chris Cuomo admitted it was Vance, not CBS, who had the correct information. 

"At one point, Vance wanted to correct something about how Haitians got into this country — and he was right — and the moderators wouldn't let him correct it," commented Cuomo on NewsNation. 

There is something admirable about fact-checking the fact-checkers, isn't there?

The GOP should stop letting the left-wing media control every debate

Debate season is likely over for 2024. Vance and Walz will not debate again. And Trump says he does not plan to have another debate with Harris, as early voting has begun.

So be it.

We are not calling for the GOP to protest future debates with legacy media outlets. However, the party must secure at least one debate in 2028 on neutral grounds, outside of enemy territory – be it Fox News, NewsNation, or one of the many growing digital media networks.

Networks like CBS, CNN, NBC, and ABC – especially ABC – are not objective news networks anymore. They are simply propaganda arms of the Democratic Party.

That's not changing in the next four years.

Senator JD Vance, a Republican from Ohio and Republican vice-presidential nominee, left, and Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota and Democratic vice-presidential nominee, during the first vice presidential debate at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Historically, debates between the running mates of the major party nominees for president have a negligible effect on the contest for the White House, but with the race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris being so close, any boost for either ticket could make all the difference. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

VP debate won't change the election

JD Vance won the debate. That's obvious. It wasn't close. But the race is ultimately between Trump and Harris, and vice presidential picks rarely change the outcome of elections. 

And this election remains a toss-up. Polls are tight. The betting market is close to 50-50, slightly favoring Harris.

If the election comes down to policy, Trump will win in November. He's the stronger candidate on the economy, the border, crime, energy, and ending senseless wars.

Of course, there are other factors at play. There's an entire media machine fully behind Kamala Harris that will spin any story to prevent Trump from achieving victory.

And due to years of deceptive spins in favor of the Democratic Party, issues like abortion and IVF seemingly favor Harris. If only voters knew the facts.

Tuesday night was fun. But in the end, the race is probably going to come down to voter turnout in a few swing states, specifically Pennsylvania.

So, don't expect Obama and Pelosi to replace Walz on the ticket for crumbling on stage in front of tens of millions of voters.