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Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz put their Middle America appeal to the test Tuesday night in what’s likely the final debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle.
With barely a month to go until the Nov. 5 election, the candidates are out to show they’re fit to be a heartbeat away from the presidency — and to boost their respective running mates at the top of the ticket, GOP former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
The debate, which began airing at 8 p.m. on CBS, comes hours after Iran launched missile attacks on Israel as tensions rise across the Middle East.
That crisis was sure to provide debate fodder along with the vice presidential candidates’ respective military records. Vance, the best-selling author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” served in the U.S. Marine Corps, while Walz, a former high school teacher and football coach, served in the Army National Guard.
Vance has attacked Walz over a 2018 campaign video in which the Minnesota governor referenced “weapons of war that I carried into war.” Neither man saw combat.
CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan are also likely to quiz the candidates on the war in Ukraine, a U.S. economy still reeling from inflation and the immigration crisis at the southern border — as well as Vance’s insistent false claims that Haitian immigrants have eaten pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Most political prognosticators say vice presidential debates rarely impact election outcomes, but that could change in a year where most polls have put Trump and Harris in a statistical dead heat.
Harris and Trump debated last month and haven’t agreed on a second on-stage matchup. Vance and Walz aren’t scheduled to square off again before the election either.
Follow along here with the Sun-Times for updates throughout the debate.
Iran’s attack on Israel
In a stilted response to start the exchange, Walz sidestepped a question about whether he’d authorize a preemptive strike on Iran given its expanding nuclear capabilities.
“The expansion of Israel and its proxies is an absolute fundamental necessity for the United States to have the steady leadership there… along with our Israeli partners and our coalition, to stop the incoming attack. But what’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter.”
“Our coalition is strong, and we need the steady leadership that Kamala Harris is providing,” Walz said.
Vance mostly avoided the question, introducing himself to voters before asserting that Trump, during his first term, “delivered stability in the world, and he did it by establishing effective deterrence. People were afraid of stepping out of line.”
“It is up to Israel, what they think they need to do to keep their country safe, and we should support our allies wherever they are when they’re fighting the bad guys,” Vance said.
Hurricane Helene, devastating floods
Asked how a second Trump administration would address climate change, Vance slammed Biden administration policies he claims “actually led to more energy production in China, more manufacturing overseas, more doing business in some of the dirtiest parts of the entire world.
“So if we actually care about getting cleaner air and cleaner water, the best thing to do is to double down and invest in American workers and the American people and unfortunately, Kamala Harris has done exactly the opposite,” Vance said.
Walz tried to drive a wedge between Vance and his running mate. “Sen. Vance has said that there’s a climate problem in the past. Donald Trump called it a hoax and then joked that these things would make more beachfront property to be able to invest in.”
“We’re producing more natural gas and more oil at any time than we ever have. We’re also producing more clean energy. So the solution for us is to continue to move forward,” Walz said.