US elections: JD Vance outshines Tim Walz in a policy-heavy debate | 10 points

The first and likely only vice-presidential debate of the 2024 US Elections saw Republican J D Vance and Democrat Tim Walz square off in a debate that was heavy on policy and civil. Key issues, including Middle East tensions, abortion rights and the border crisis, dominated the debate which saw the candidates make a case for their running mates. In the end, J D Vance, a Yale-trained lawyer and an experienced debater, emerged as a clear winner.

Some takeaways from the debate

1) No personal attacks: The debate between Ohio Senator J D Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was mostly cordial with the focus mostly on policy. While Vance blasted Vice President Kamala Harris on border security, the Democrat lambasted former President Donald Trump on abortion rights.

2) Middle-East tensions: Vance questioned Walz on whether he would support a preemptive strike on Iran as it launched missiles into Israel, but the latter directed it to Trump and how he was too dangerous for the country. "What's fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter," said Walz. "And the world saw it on that debate stage a few weeks ago, a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need at this moment."

Vance shot back: "Who has been the vice president for the last three and a half years? And the answer is your running mate, not mine. Donald Trump consistently made the world more secure."

3) Ohio pet-eating controversy: Trump's controversial remarks on immigrant Haitians eating pets surfaced at the vice-president debate too with Walz telling Vance that there were consequences for this, referring to the incident where state troopers were sent to Springfield following bomb threats.

However, Vance shot back, stating "the people I care most about in Springfield are the American citizens." The Republican also challenged the moderators over their fact-checking of his pet-eating statement.

4) Walz on Tiananmen Square: The Minnesota governor had a major embarrassment when he agreed he "misspoke" about his statement that he visited Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989. However, a report by Minnesota Public Radio said he was in fact there later in the year. "I’ve not been perfect, and I’m a knucklehead at times," he said, before finally conceding that he "got there that summer and misspoke."

5) Abortion rights: Vance attempted to appeal to the political middle on abortion by delivering a passionate message on abortion. He denied Republicans would create a federal registry to track pregnancies and claimed the party wanted to be "pro-family". He, however, opted to dodge reference to his earlier remarks on the issue, including previously saying he did not support exceptions to abortion bans for rape and incest.

6) Economic matters: Walz unleashed on Vance on Trump's track record on economic issues but Vance argued that Trump’s economic plan would solve the cost-of-living crisis. He also cited take-home pay and lower inflation and attacked four years of Harris’ leadership on the economy. Walz argued that Harris's plans to make housing more affordable and cut taxes were pro-middle class.

7) Immigration: Vance attacked Kamala Harris on the border issue, stating that he has been to the southern border more than our border czar, Kamala Harris, has been." He, however, ducked the question of how Trump would carry out his mass deportation promise.

Walz, on the other hand, hit out at Trump’s immigration policies stating he killed a bipartisan border deal in the Senate. Vance also opted not to answer a question on whether he would support a child separation policy.

8) 2020 elections: One moment when Walz outshined Vance was when he asked if he believed Trump lost the 2020 elections. Vance opted not to give a straight answer and instead threw a question at Walz about censorship of the COVID-19 pandemic on Facebook. Vance replied: “Tim, I'm focused on the future.”