Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the GOP and Democratic nominees for Vice President of the United States respectively, will debate on Tuesday evening in New York in what might be the last major event with both major U.S. political parties involved before the Nov. 5 election just over a month away.
The debate, which will be moderated by CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, will begin at 9:00 p.m. ET, and most major television networks will carry it live.
Since former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris–the GOP and Democratic presidential nominees respectively–have not agreed on terms for a second debate after they faced off back on September 10, this event might be the last word on a debate stage this year from the two campaigns. Some in the establishment, and particularly the Harris campaign, including Harris herself, have been desperately trying to goad Trump into accepting a second debate with her, but given the fact that Trump feels good about where he’s at in the campaign it seems unlikely he would give in to the Democrat overtures.
So on stage on Tuesday, it’s up to Vance and Walz to each do their best to represent their tickets to voters. The debate comes hours after the Islamic Republic of Iran launched missiles into Israel, forcing the entire civilian population into shelters, and as tensions in the Middle East keep rising after Israel wiped out the longtime leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. It also comes as the Russian war in Ukraine continues to drain American tax dollars and crime rates hit historic highs here at home in the United States as thousands of migrant murderers and tens of thousands of migrant criminals are — per Department of Homeland Security statistics — in the United States.
What’s more, most importantly to voters in this election, the economy continues to struggle with Harris in command of the nation alongside current but outgoing President Joe Biden–the incumbent commander-in-chief whom Harris and other Democrats pushed aside when he imploded at the debate with Trump back in late June. Now Longshoremen union members are striking, thanks to Harris’s and Biden’s failures to help negotiate a deal, severely threatening the already weak economy, and Harris’s heartlessness in her and Biden’s complete failure to properly respond to the impact of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, Georgia, and elsewhere further damages the nation.
Given the absolute failures of ABC News’s David Muir and Linsey Davis as moderators of the debate between Trump and Harris earlier this fall, expectations for O’Donnell and Brennan are extremely low. There are reports that CBS might even throw a QR code on screen during the debate to direct viewers to a website where the network’s reporters will be live “fact-checking” statements from the debate, but knowing the establishment media these are almost certainly going to be weighted against Vance and in favor of Walz.
As for the actual vice presidential candidates, Walz’s deep history of lying about his own background–from claiming he served in combat when he absolutely did not to claiming he was in Asia during the Tiananmen Square massacre in China to more lies about himself–would be front and center in any just debate. So would Walz’s extremely radical record on policy which runs counter to his “folksy demeanor,” as Harris aides and establishment media regularly call it, given Walz’s history of backing amnesty for illegal aliens and other very radical and extreme ideas.
What’s more, Vance’s powerful story as someone who pulled himself up from poverty into the upper echelons of American society so quickly should also come through on stage on Tuesday. Vance, who is known for his quick ability to handle himself in debates and interviews, is likely to try to cut Walz down to size while also using the massive national audience to bring the heat directly to Harris past Walz.
Follow along here on Breitbart News for live breaking news, updates, and analysis during the 2024 vice presidential debate.
UPDATE 12:04 a.m. ET:
CNN’s instant poll found an even split of who won the debate–51 percent Vance, 49 percent Walz.
David Chalian, CNN’s political director, said before introducing it that it was about 5 percent more Democratic in the sample size than a normal national poll.
UPDATE 11:38 p.m. ET:
Donald Trump Jr. is on CNN right now saying Vance’s debate win was a “master class,” and that Vance handled himself extremely well even on issues Republicans have struggled on.
UPDATE 11:35 p.m. ET:
On MSNBC, a visibly reddening Rachel Maddow was laughing maniacally about what she claimed was a “lie” by Vance she has tape to prove was a “lie.” Then MSNBC cut to commercial.
Meanwhile, on CNN, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) had what appeared to be tears streaming down her face as she defended Walz’s disastrous performance.
UPDATE 10:57 p.m. ET:
CNN and MSNBC are both melting down as Walz’s disastrous performance now threatens to tank Harris’s already slim chances of winning the election.
UPDATE 10:55 p.m. ET:
People on the right are capitalizing on Walz claiming he’s become friends with school shooters:
Trump shared a similar image on his Truth Social page.
UPDATE 10:54 p.m. ET:
Rave reviews are streaming in for Vance tonight, even from previous critics:
UPDATE 10:48 p.m. ET:
The debate has finished, and the betting markets show most believe Vance crushed Walz:
UPDATE 10:47 p.m. ET:
Vance’s closing statement begins with energy policy, and he tells a story about his grandmother not being able to turn on the heat at night because he grew up poor and how Harris’s administration is making it harder to afford energy.
Vance focusing his entire closing statement on affordability–then he goes into how Harris has failed as vice president of the United States to address these major issues facing the nation.
UPDATE 10:44 p.m. ET:
The debate has returned and moved right to closing statements. Walz is first because he lost the coin toss, and now he’s babbling on and on about feelings. Walz coughs and says “excuse me.”
UPDATE 10:38 p.m. ET:
Vance, when the moderators change the conversation to January 6 and “democracy,” offers a stirring defense of freedom of speech. Walz, visibly flustered, tried to argue there is a clear choice in the election on the matter. Then the moderators cut to commercial break again.
UPDATE 10:30 p.m. ET:
More reviews are ripping Walz:
UPDATE 10:24 p.m. ET:
Looking back on the healthcare part of the discussion, it’s pretty amazing Walz defended Obamacare’s individual mandate–even though the courts eliminated that part of it:
UPDATE 10:21 p.m. ET:
Vance, on issue after issue, is just downright schooling Walz and the moderators. He’s taking issues that have been longtime Democrat strengths like abortion and healthcare and turning them into Trump-Vance strengths. This is just a straight up masterclass by Vance.
UPDATE 10:17 p.m. ET:
Vance on healthcare argues that Trump “salvaged Obamacare,” and argues that he and Trump support covering preexisting conditions.
UPDATE 10:13 p.m. ET:
When the conversation is on housing and Vance argues that Harris’s support for millions of migrants coming into the country, Walz incredibly argues that border crossings are down since Harris took office. Then, Walz pushes Vance on evidence that migration is hurting housing prices asking for an expert and Vance cites a Federal Reserve study on the matter.
UPDATE 10:03 p.m. ET:
Reviews are pouring in, and it’s clear Walz is getting roasted and Vance is winning this debate big time:
UPDATE 10:02 p.m. ET:
Walz notes he is a gun owner, and claims again that Harris is one too. Harris continues to refuse to prove she actually owns a firearm by saying what kind of gun she owns.
UPDATE 10:00 p.m. ET:
Upon return from commercial, the moderators shift the conversation to gun policy. Vance is very deftly handling the response to this laying out clear policy on this front to make schools safer.
UPDATE 9:53 p.m. ET:
Vance has Walz on the defensive on late-term abortions conducted in Minnesota, and keeps pressing him on it, and Walz is having trouble responding to Vance’s questions.
“I asked a specific question, governor, and you gave me a slogan in response,” Vance replies.
The moderators then cut to commercial to bail the flailing Walz out.
UPDATE 9:50 p.m. ET:
Walz is pushing for a full “restoration” of Roe v. Wade. Walz says he agrees with a lot of what Vance was saying, but then tries to split Vance from Trump again. Next, the moderators ask Vance about a national abortion ban at 15 weeks, and then he lays out how the ballot initiative in Ohio changed his views on this.
UPDATE 9:47 p.m. ET:
Walz falsely claims Trump and Vance want to make a federal registry of pregnancies, and now Vance is ripping Walz’s views apart on this. Vance then goes out and lays out how Republicans need to be “pro-family” in every sense of the word.
UPDATE 9:45 p.m. ET:
Vance offered an articulate defense of tariffs, and even praised Joe Biden for keeping many of Trump’s tariffs in place–and then laid out how Harris has ditched the one popular part of Biden’s agenda, tariffs.
UPDATE 9:43 p.m. ET:
Vance is very effectively laying out how he changed on Trump, and how Congress did not do great in effectively passing Trump’s agenda in his first term.
UPDATE 9:42 p.m. ET:
Walz dodged the question on when exactly he got to Hong Kong and China during the year of Tiananmen Square, and then finally upon getting pressed again admitted he “misspoke.”
Now, the moderators are pressing Vance on previous criticisms of Trump.
UPDATE 9:39 p.m. ET:
Vance is just absolutely destroying Walz here on the economy, laying out the major problems that Walz has to confront as a candidate–attacking Trump falsely while also falsely defending Harris. Just plain savage by Vance.
UPDATE 9:36 p.m. ET:
Trump is on a roll on his Truth Social account commenting on the debate.
UPDATE 9:32 p.m. ET:
Vance is now laying out how Kamala Harris is the sitting vice president and has not done any of the things she is promising she would do if elected later since she is the sitting vice president.
Vance then explains Trump’s economic plan and how it’s his record. Vance multiple times repeats how during Trump “take-home pay” for American workers was at record levels.
UPDATE 9:31 p.m. ET:
Walz after the debate gets going again presses forward by falsely arguing that Kamala Harris comes from the middle class. He also falsely claims credit by Democrats for cutting the costs of insulin–something that Trump did and Biden-Harris copied him on.
UPDATE 9:29 p.m. ET:
CBS cut the mics of both Vance and Walz after Vance cut off the moderators and explained how the Haitian migrants while technically here legally are not here because of the traditional legal immigration process.
UPDATE 9:28 p.m. ET:
Vance is now hammering back at Walz on Springfield, laying out the wide-scale impacts of mass migration on Americans.
Some reactions from across the politcial universe are showing that Walz is totally rattled:
UPDATE 9:25 p.m. ET:
Vance is crushing Walz on immigration, and even with the moderators’ help the Harris campaign is feeling the heat big time on this right now. Vance’s in-depth understanding of this issue is apparent right now. Walz is asked about CBS polling that shows a majority of Americans support mass deportation, and a rattled Walz now starts attacking Vance over Springfield, Ohio.
UPDATE 9:20 p.m. ET:
Now the conversation shifts to immigration, and the moderators ask Vance if he would separate families with a mass deportation. Vance does not fall for the bait, and lays out how Harris and Biden let millions of migrants into the country. Vance also makes the economic case against wide-scale migration, arguing that the migrants are causing Americans’ wages to get cut.
UPDATE 9:18 p.m. ET:
Walz slipped up and admitted the current administration is the “Harris administration”:
UPDATE 9:15 p.m. ET:
Walz says his heart goes out to the people suffering from the hurricane, and then Walz attacks Trump again this time over climate. Walz is clearly trying to use the stage to attack Trump but it seems to be missing for the most part.
UPDATE 9:12 p.m. ET:
As the conversation changes to the response to Hurricane Helene, Vance tells stories of people who lost their lives. He said he thinks Walz would join him in expressing concern for those people and Walz nods.
Then, Vance dismantles the left’s views on climate change.
UPDATE 9:11 p.m. ET:
Walz, in response, continues viciously attacking Trump.
Then, Vance in response noted that Walz’s admission that Iran is closer than ever to having a nuclear weapon is during the Harris-Biden administration.
Vance flips the script back on Walz and Harris, noting that while Walz can criticize Trump’s tweets it’s factually true that Trump’s policies have been effective in promulgating peace on the world stage.
UPDATE 9:06 p.m. ET:
Vance, before he gets into the specifics of answering the question, explains his own background and introduces himself to voters. Then he goes into detail about how Trump delivered stability on the world stage when he was president, and how Harris as vice president has unlocked funding for the Iranians. Vance said he would support Israel.
UPDATE 9:05 p.m. ET:
Walz seems nervous. He mixed up Iran and Israel right away. He then veers into attacks on Trump, and repeats typical Democrat attacks on Trump. Walz then immediately tries to divide Trump and Vance before Vance even speaks. The fact that Walz is just openly ripping Trump rather than answering the question in substantive detail says a lot about the Harris campaign strategy.
UPDATE 9:04 p.m. ET:
The first question, from Brennan, is about Iran’s attack on Israel earlier on Tuesday. The question goes to Walz asking if he would support or oppose a preemptive strike on Iran by Israel.
UPDATE 9:02 p.m. ET:
Brennan is explaining the rules now, and downplaying the role the moderators may play in fact checking.
UPDATE 9:01 p.m. ET:
The moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan are bringing the program in, and now they’re playing a preplanned video package of both men. The debate is beginning now.
UPDATE 8:59 p.m. ET:
Vance and Walz just came on stage, and are standing behind their respective podiums now. The debate is set to begin momentarily.
UPDATE 8:45 p.m. ET:
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) appeared on NBC News before the debate and laid out how Biden and Harris have been a “disaster” in their decades in elected office:
UPDATE 8:42 p.m. ET:
New polling released just before the debate shows Trump gaining a significant advantage over Harris now. A poll out of Pennsylvania, for instance, shows a straight-up tie:
Meanwhile, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia polling all show clear Trump leads over Harris:
If Trump wins these states, he will defeat Harris. She is in very big trouble right now and needs essentially a miracle from Walz’s debate performance to change the trajectory of the race.
UPDATE 8:40 p.m. ET:
CBS News before the debate has a panel of voters from Grand Rapids, Michigan, some of which are voting for Harris, some for Trump, and some of whom are undecided. What they are all saying generally is they are looking for a candidate who is strong on the economy and safety–particularly crime.
CBS is interviewing these voters, and one who is a former Nikki Haley supporter says she cares most about abortion and gun control. A Trump supporter in the panel says he cares most about the economy and ending wars overseas.
