A photo of a street in Ohio, with political advertising signs in two front gardens. One says 'Trump Vance' and the other says 'Harris Walz', representing the US Vice Presidential Candidates Debate.

Michaela Cullen

Just one month from the US election date, Ohio Senator JD Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz squared off in their first, and only, scheduled Vice Presidential debate.

The pair met at the CBS Broadcast Centre in New York City on 2nd October. They engaged in discussions on immigration policy, abortion laws, gun violence and climate change, among other concerns on the minds of US voters.

CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The two VP hopefuls debated on the Gaza conflict just hours after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel.

Walz opened the debate with a hesitant response on the Iran-Israel tensions. He frequently stumbled over his words during a key moment when many voters were seeing him for the first time.

He echoed Vice President Harris’ assurance of unwavering support for Israel, saying it “is an absolute, fundamental necessity for the United States to have the steady leadership there.”

Vance was quick to retaliate. He said: “Donald Trump consistently made the world more secure,” with no major global conflicts  during Trump’s presidency.

He said it is only Trump’s “effective, smart diplomacy” will bring  “stability back to a very broken world.”

Both candidates dodged the question on whether they supported a pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran despite being asked.

IMMIGRATION POLICY

Immigration was a central theme in the debate, mimicking the discussion of the two Presidential candidates last month.

Vance repeatedly focused on the US southern border, framing immigration as a weak point for his opponents and blaming Harris for rising illegal immigrant numbers.

Vance blamed Harris for the “historic immigration crisis.” He alleged that she “opened the floodgates” with “ninety-four executive orders suspending deportations, decriminalising illegal aliens, massively increasing the asylum fraud that exists in our system.”

“When a CBS moderator attempted to correct him, Vance interrupted, leading to his microphone being muted”

Walz responded by blaming Trump for derailing bipartisan legislation that would have introduced some of the strictest immigration policies in US history.

He told Vance to “pass the bill” and Harris would “sign it.”

“It should not take seven years for an asylum claim to be done. This bill gets it done in 90 days. Then you start to make a difference in this and you start to adhere to what we know,” he said.

Tensions escalated when Vance was questioned about false claims he made regarding Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.

Vance and Trump had previously spread conspiracy theories that these migrants were eating pets in the city. When a CBS moderator attempted to correct him, Vance interrupted, leading to his microphone being muted.

CLIMATE CHANGE

In response to a question about climate change following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, Vance shifted the focus to jobs and manufacturing, sidestepping Trump’s past dismissal of global warming as a “hoax.”

He said: “If we actually care about getting cleaner air and cleaner water, the best thing to do is to double down and invest in American workers and the American people.”

Walz also kept the discussion on domestic efforts, highlighting the Biden administration’s investments in renewable energy and record oil and natural gas production.

He referred to the Inflation Reduction Act, largest climate investment in American history, which aims to tackle the climate crisis, reduces utility costs, boosts American manufacturing, and has driven nearly $900 billion in private-sector investment since President Biden took office.

Walz said: “We are producing more natural gas and more oil at any time than we ever have. We’re also producing more clean energy. So the solution for us is to continue to move forward.”

ABORTION RIGHTS

Abortion rights led to one of the most heated exchanges of the debate following Trump and Harris’ own intense debate on the issue.

Democrats have used the topic to rally voters, portraying Trump as a threat to women’s autonomy due to his role in appointing a conservative Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

Walz highlighted the tragic stories of two Georgia women who died due to abortion restrictions, and of others who suffered severe health problems because of state restrictions.

Walz expressed: “These are women’s decisions to make about their healthcare decisions and the physicians who know best when they need to do this.”

In retaliation, Vance acknowledged that his stance on abortion had evolved. He argued his party needs to regain public trust on the issue, saying: “I think there’s so much that we can do on the public policy front just to give women more options.” He added: “I want us, as a Republican Party, to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word.”

ECONOMIC POLICIES

Walz came prepared to challenge Trump on the economy, an area where polls show many voters trust the Republican nominee.

He argued that even before the pandemic, the U.S. was facing a manufacturing recession with around 10 million people unemployed – the highest rate since the Great Depression.

Vance countered by claiming Walz had a tough task accusing him of having to “pretend” that Trump’s economy did not improve wages and keep inflation low.

He said: “What she’s actually done instead is drive the cost of food higher by 25 per cent, drive the cost of housing higher by about 60 per cent, open the American southern border and make middle class life unaffordable for a large number of Americans.”

Walz targeted Trump’s tax and trade policies, saying Trump favoured tax cuts for billionaires, and questioned the fairness of Trump not paying federal taxes for 15 years while ordinary Americans do.

AGREEMENTS AND DISAGREEMENTS ON GUN VIOLENCE

Both Walz and Vance landed on a civil agreement that more needed to be done to protect students from school shootings.

Walz recalled his time visiting Finland where he learnt about low levels of gun crime, with high rates of gun ownership. He said “there are reasonable things that we can do to make a difference.”

Both agreed that action needed to be taken, as Walz admitted he and Harris are both gun owners.

Vance considered the nation’s mental health crisis, pointing to higher rates of substance abuse, depression, and anxiety. He stressed the importance of addressing the root causes of these issues, acknowledging that while mental health is not the only factor behind the country’s gun violence problem, it plays a significant role.

Walz warned against blaming mental illness as a “scapegoat” for the nation’s high levels of gun violence. He said: “Sometimes it just is the guns. It’s just the guns.”

Turning back to immigration concerns, Vance claimed “thanks to Kamala Harris’ open border, we’ve seen a massive influx in the number of illegal guns run by the Mexican drug cartel.”

READ NEXT:

Featured image courtesy of Dan Keck on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.

Michaela is currently in her third year studying Journalism at the University of Technology Sydney. She has contributed to the UTS newsroom Central News with a range of political and social justice stories. She is also the 2023 Australian Foreign Policy Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs and Editor-in-Chief of the United Nations Youth NSW Global Advocate Magazine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *