Vice Presidential hopefuls Tim Walz and JD Vance squared off Tuesday night in what may be the last debate of the 2024 presidential campaign. It was the first encounter between Minnesota’s Democratic governor and Ohio’s Republican senator, following last month’s debate between the tops of their tickets, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
The debate in New York hosted by CBS News opened with a sober tone that reflected growing domestic and international concerns about safety and security. But it gave way to sharper attacks from both Walz and Vance — and a moment in which the moderators stopped the discussion by cutting the two men’s mics.
Walz accused Vance and Trump of villainizing legal immigrants in Vance’s home state. He pointed to the fact that Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had to send in extra law enforcement to provide security to the city’s schools after Vance tweeted about and Trump amplified false claims about Haitians eating pets.
“This is what happens when you don’t want to solve it, you demonize it,” Walz said, saying not doing so would allow people to “come together.”
Vance said the 15,000 Haitians in the city had caused housing, economic and other issues that the Biden-Harris administration was ignoring.
When the debate moderators pointed out that the Haitians living there had legal status, Vance protested that CBS News had said its moderators would not be fact-checking, leaving the onus to the candidates.
Microphones were cut off after Vance interrupted co-moderator Margaret Brennan to continue speaking about immigration policy — an answer he insisted on giving after saying she had unfairly fact checked him.
“Margaret, the rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact check,” Vance said, before launching into a discussion of immigration.
As Vance continued and the moderators tried to move on, his microphone was cut and neither man could be heard.
Unlike the September presidential debate, CBS announced Friday that it would be up to the candidates to keep each other honest at Tuesday’s debate.
In the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash limited follow-up questions and did not fact check either participant. In the September debate between Trump and Harris, ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis interjected with matter-of-fact corrections to some of Trump’s most glaring misstatements.
According to CBS, candidates, who were not allowed to bring pre-written notes or props on stage, had two minutes to answer a question and two minutes to respond. They were allowed one minute for rebuttals.
At moderators’ discretion, candidates may have received an additional minute to continue a discussion, CBS said.
The two sides agreed that the candidates’ microphones would stay on while their opponent is speaking, unlike the two presidential debates. CBS said it reserved the right to shut off a hot mic when necessary.
Each candidate had two minutes for a closing statement. Vance won a virtual coin toss and spoke last.
No audience was present, and there were no opening statements.