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Vance and Walz face off in US vice presidential debate

U.S. vice presidential nominees Tim Walz and JD Vance met for the first and only vice presidential debate of this election season. Tina Trinh reports from New York.
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Vance and Walz focus their attacks on the top of the ticket — not each other

Washington — 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. 

No more debates are on the political calendar before Election Day. Tuesday’s confrontation came as the global stakes of the contest rose again as Iran fired missiles at Israel. The vice presidential hopefuls sparred over the violence in the Middle East, climate change and immigration. Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s debate. 

Mideast in turmoil 

Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel on Tuesday elicited a contrast between the Democratic and Republican tickets on foreign policy: Walz promised “steady leadership” under Harris while Vance pledged a return to “peace through strength” if Trump is returned to the White House. 

The differing visions of what American leadership should look like overshadowed the sharp policy differences between the two tickets. 

The Iranian threat to the region and U.S. interests around the world opened the debate, with Walz pivoting the topic to criticism of Trump. 

“What’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter,” Walz said, then referenced the “nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes” and responding to global crises by tweet. 

Vance, for his part, promised a return to “effective deterrence” under Trump against Iran, brushing back on Walz’s criticism of Trump by attacking Harris and her role in the Biden administration. 

“Who has been the vice president for the last three and a half years and the answer is your running mate, not mine,” he said. He pointedly noted that the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, happened “during the administration of Kamala Harris.” 

Vance and Walz punch up 

Vance and Walz trained the bulk of their attacks not on their on-stage rival, but on the running mates who weren’t in the room. 

Both vice presidential nominees sought to convey a genial mien as they lobbed criticism at Harris and Trump, respectively. 

It was a reflection of the fact that most voters don’t cast a ballot based on the vice president, and on a vice presidential nominee’s historic role in serving as the attack dog for their running mates. 

Walz pointedly attacked Trump for failing to meet his pledge of building a physical barrier across the entire U.S.-Mexico border at the country’s southern neighbor’s expense. 

“Less than 2% of that wall got built and Mexico didn’t pay a dime,” Walz said. 

Underscoring the focus on the top of the ticket, during a back-and-forth about immigration, Vance said to his opponent: “I think that you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think that Kamala Harris does.” 

Climate change 

In the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Helene, Vance took a question about climate change and gave an answer about jobs and manufacturing, taking a detour around Trump’s past claims that global warming is a “hoax.” 

Vance contended that the best way to fight climate change was to move more manufacturing to the United States, because the country has the world’s cleanest energy economy. It was a distinctly domestic spin on a global crisis, especially after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the international Paris climate accords during his administration. 

Walz also kept the climate change focus domestic, touting the Biden administration’s renewable energy investments as well as record levels of oil and natural gas production. “You can see us becoming an energy superpower in the future,” Walz said. 

It was a decidedly optimistic take on a pervasive and grim global problem. 

Immigration 

The two running mates agreed that the number of migrants in the U.S. illegally is a problem. But each laid the blame on the opposing presidential nominee. 

Vance echoed Trump by repeatedly calling Harris the “border czar” and suggested that she, as vice president, single-handedly rolled back the immigration restrictions Trump had imposed as president. The result, in Vance’s telling, is an unchecked flow of fentanyl, strain on state and local resources and increased housing prices around the country. 

Harris was never asked to be the “border czar” and she was never specifically given the responsibility for security on the border. She was tasked by Biden in March 2021 with tackling the “root causes” of migration from the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and pushing leaders there and in Mexico to enforce immigration laws. Harris was not empowered to set U.S. immigration policy — only the president can sign executive orders and Harris was not empowered as Biden’s proxy in negotiations with Congress on immigration law. 

Walz advanced Democrats’ arguments that Trump single-handedly killed a bipartisan Senate deal to tighten border security and boost the processing system for immigrants and asylum seekers. Republicans backed off the deal, Walz noted, only after Trump said it wasn’t good enough. 
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A look at false and misleading claims during the vice presidential debate

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November trial set for suspect in Trump assassination attempt in Florida

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Trump declines to be interviewed for ’60 Minutes’ election special

NEW YORK — CBS News said Tuesday that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has declined to participate in an interview with “60 Minutes” for its election special, which will go forward next Monday with Democratic opponent Kamala Harris alone.

Television’s top-rated news program regularly invites the two presidential contenders for separate interviews that air back-to-back on a show near the election. This year, it is scheduled for Monday instead of its usual Sunday time slot.

Asked for comment, the former president’s campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “Fake news,” adding that there were discussions, but nothing was ever locked in.

“60 Minutes” said Trump’s campaign had initially agreed to an interview before telling CBS that the former president would not appear. The network said its invitation to sit for an interview still stands, and correspondent Scott Pelley will explain Trump’s absence to viewers.

Vice President Harris will appear in a pretaped interviewed with Bill Whitaker.

There are currently no other scheduled opportunities for voters to compare the two candidates together. Harris and Trump previously debated on Sept. 10. Although Harris has accepted an invitation from CNN for a second debate later this month, Trump has not accepted.

The interview special is scheduled to air Monday instead of the usual “60 Minutes” time slot because CBS is showing the American Music Awards on Sunday.

Trump’s interview with “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl prior to the 2020 election proved contentious, with the former president ending the session early and his campaign posting an unedited transcript of the session.

CBS News was hosting Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Tim Walz, Minnesota’s Democratic governor.
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Biden calls for Lebanon cease-fire after weekend of fighting

Washington is trying to keep a Mideast war from snowballing after a dramatic weekend in Lebanon, but regional powers are expressing concerns as Israel’s leadership seems determined to continue. From the White House, President Joe Biden has called for a cease-fire, but VOA’s Anita Powell asks: Will anyone listen?
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Vance, Walz to compete in US vice presidential debate

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Vance, Walz prepare for US vice presidential debate

In the U.S. election, vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz meet Tuesday for their first, and only, debate. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns looks at what to expect when the candidates meet in New York.
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