Walz and Vance will meet in their first and possibly only vice presidential debate
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Tim Walz And J.D. Vance will meet Tuesday for their first and possibly only vice-presidential debate, in what could be the final debate for both campaigns to make their case before the election.
The New York debate, hosted by CBS News, will give Vance, a Republican freshman senator from Ohio, and Walz, a two-term Democratic governor of Minnesota, a chance to introduce themselves, make the case for their running mates and move on. attack on the opponent’s ticket.
Tuesday’s game could have a big impact. Polls show that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in a tight battle. give extra weight against anything that might sway voters on the margins, including the impression left by vice presidential candidates. It could also be the last debate of the campaign, with Harris and Trump’s teams unable to agree on a new meeting.
The role of a presidential running mate typically consists of serving as an attack dog for the person at the top of the ticket, arguing on stage against the opposing presidential candidate and his proxy. Both Vance and Walz have embraced that role.
From Vans sometimes confrontational news interviews and appearances during the campaign have underscored why Trump picked him for the Republican ticket despite his sharp past criticism of the former president, including suggestions that Trump is “America’s Hitler.”
Walz, meanwhile, catapulted into Harris’ campaign by labeling Trump and the Republicans as ” just weird,” creating a line of attack for Democrats who want to argue that Republicans are disconnected from the American people.
A new AP-NORC poll found that Walz is more liked than Vance, which could pose an additional challenge for the Republican.
After a Harris-Trump debate in which Republicans complained about ABC News moderators fact-checking TrumpTuesday’s debate will not feature any corrections from the hosts. CBS News said the responsibility for pointing out inaccuracies lies with the candidates, with moderators “facilitating those opportunities.”
Before the debate, both men’s allies lowered expectations that their candidate would deliver a decisive performance.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called Vance “an accomplished debater” and contrasted that with Walz, saying he was “not a lawyer-debater type.” Klobuchar said Walz grew up thinking about football, not debating.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, portrayed Walz very differently from Klobuchar.
“Tim Walz is very good at debates, very good. He has been a politician for almost twenty years. He will be very well prepared for tomorrow night,” Miller told reporters on Monday. He predicted that Minnesota’s Democratic governor will be much more “edgy” than he is on the campaign trail and ready to defend his record, but added: “That’s not to say that J.D. Vance won’t be prepared tomorrow, or that he somehow he is not up to the challenge.”
Speaking to reporters last week, Vance said he “didn’t have to do that much preparation” for the debate because he had “well-developed views on public policy.”
But Vance has been doing debate prep sessions where he was joined by his wife, Usha Vance, Miller, Vance’s senior aides, and Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who has played Walz, according to a person familiar with his preparations who requested for anonymity to discuss strategy. The moderator of their mock debates was Monica Crowley, who has served in the Trump administration, hosts a podcast and contributed to Project 2025a conservative blueprint for reforming government that Trump claims he knows” nothing left.”
“JD Vance is willing to wipe the floor with Tim Walz and expose him for the radical liberal that he is,” Emmer told reporters on Monday.
Walz’s debate preparation included sessions at a Minneapolis hotel, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg standing in for Vance, according to a person familiar with the process who requested anonymity to discuss the campaign’s internal dynamics . Others who helped with preparations include Rob Friedlander and Zayn Siddique, who helped Harris prepare for her debate with Trump, along with other aides to Walz and the campaign.
Klobuchar said Walz will show the American people “a real person” who brings “buoyancy” and positivity to the debate stage, which will contrast with Vance, but “he won’t be shy about pointing out the problems.”
“Just because he’s an optimistic, positive person doesn’t mean he’s a pushover,” she said.
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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York, Josh Boak in Baltimore and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.