The vice-presidential debate between the Republican and Democratic tickets took place on October 1—and it appears that it will be the last debate of the 2024 presidential campaign. Trump running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Harris running mate Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minnesota) held a surprisingly civil and policy-heavy debate, well moderated by two reporters from CBS News.
Experienced debater Vance cycled through his talking points smoothly from the start. As the questions moved into territory of reproductive freedom and affordable health care, Walz shed his apparent early nervousness and began landing clear policy points against the unpopular stances that Vance was forced to defend.
Climate Crisis
On the climate crisis, Walz hit the pro-polluter Trump record hard. When Walz pointed out how Trump declared climate change to be a “hoax” and promised to repeal the Biden-Harris Administration’s progress on moving toward a clean energy economy, Vance had no meaningful response. Instead, he offered a nonsensical pitch for increasing reliance on fossil fuels.
“As families and communities begin the hard and painful recovery from the devastating destruction of Hurricane Helene, a disaster caused by climate change, it was maddening but not surprising to hear J.D. Vance mimic his running mate and to spread misinformation, shill for Big Oil, and cosign Project 2025 policies. JD Vance lied about increasing U.S. based manufacturing when that is something Kamala Harris already did by casting the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act that has led to a clean energy boom across the country, creating over 300,000 clean energy jobs, lowering costs and cutting carbon emissions,” said League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Victory Fund Senior Vice President for Campaigns, Pete Maysmith. “Meanwhile, Walz reminded voters about Kamala Harris’s record and plan for tackling the crisis through the continued development of a clean energy economy and expressed empathy and support to those who are currently living through the very real impacts of climate change. The choice this November could not be clearer–a Harris-Walz administration will put our families, communities, and climate first to ensure access to clean air and water, support a clean energy economy that creates family sustaining jobs, and tackle the climate crisis.”
Democracy
On the defense of democracy, Walz produced the consensus sound bite of the night. Vance first attempted to gloss over Trump’s role in the violent attempt on January 6, 2021, to derail the routine certification of the electoral college votes by Congress.
Walz was having none of that “revisionist history” and pointed out that Trump still hasn’t admitted that he lost the 2020 election. Walz then turned to Vance and asked, “Did he lose the election?” Vance dodged the question, saying “Tim, I’m focused on the future.”
Walz shot back, “That’s a damning non-answer.”
That exchange became the most-remembered moment of the evening, producing the Harris-Walz campaign’s digital dig.
