Key takeaways from the Walz-Vance vice presidential debate

(NEW YORK) — Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met on stage Tuesday for what was likely the last debate of the 2024 presidential election.

The two vice presidential candidates struck a cordial tone as they spoke in-depth about everything from immigration to health care and democracy.

Looming large over the showdown was Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, as Walz and Vance were forced to answer for their running mates’ records while also presenting their own visions for the future.

Here are some key takeaways from the CBS News debate:

Civility ruled the day

While Walz and Vance sparred on issues, they did so with decorum and largely steered clear of the personal attacks that defined the past two presidential debates.

They started off by shaking hands and ended the night with closing statements in which they thanked each other and the American people for tuning in. As one commercial break came to a close, they were seen smiling at each other.

At times, they tried to highlight areas where they might be in agreement. In one exchange on gun violence, Walz spoke about his son witnessing a shooting at a local recreation center.

“First of all, I didn’t know your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting and I’m sorry about that,” Vance said, to which Walz said he appreciated the comment.

At other times they were more pointed, though, especially when it came to immigration and democracy. Walz said he was troubled by Vance’s indirect response when asked if he’d challenge the results of the 2024 election.

A more policy-focused debate

Viewers got to hear several substantive policy exchanges.

On health care, Vance was pressed on Trump’s comment that he only had “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act and how their administration would protect people with preexisting conditions.

“We have current laws and regulations to protect people with pre-existing conditions and want to keep the regulations in place and help the insurance marketplace function a little better,” Vance said though he did not dive into specifics.

He also distorted many of Trump’s actions on the ACA and claimed Trump made the law stronger, which was false.

Walz was asked about Harris’ plan to build three million new homes (which he argued would not drive up prices and would lead to generational wealth) and whether he believed it was likely Congress would agree to her proposal for an enhanced Child Tax Credit. He said both high housing and child care costs were the biggest burdens on American families.

Amid the devastating damage from Hurricane Helene, both were asked if climate change was contributing to such extreme weather events. Walz emphatically said climate change was “real” while Vance expressed skepticism about “weird science,” stating carbon emissions were contributing to the climate crisis.

In one notable moment on abortion, Vance adopted a different tone from the one he and Trump have voiced in the past.

“We’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue, where they frankly just don’t trust us and I think that’s one of the things that Donald Trump and I are endeavoring to do,” he said.

At the same time, he claimed during the debate that he never supported a national abortion ban, despite previously signaling support for a bill introduced by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham that would ban abortion after 15 weeks nationwide.

Walz, meanwhile, spoke about the women whose health has been negatively impacted by state-level restrictions since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Walz blamed Trump for the Supreme Court nominations he said “put this all into motion.”

Both forced to answer for past comments

For Vance, it was his calling Trump unfit to be president and likening him to Hitler in 2016. The moderator addressed Vance about his past criticisms of Trump and his shifts in policy to align with the former president’s, asking why should Americans trust that he will give Trump the advice he needs to hear.

“Because I’ve always been open and sometimes, of course, I’ve disagreed with the president, but I’ve also been extremely open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump,” Vance said.

Vance blamed the media for its coverage of Trump and then said he changed his mind in part because of Trump’s record in office.

Walz, meanwhile, was asked why he previously said he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing.

The governor has repeatedly claimed he was in China during the protests during his year-long stint as a high school teacher in the southeastern Chinese town of Foshan starting in 1989, though according to local newspaper clipping obtained by ABC News, it appears he did not actually travel to the country until August 1989, about two months after the protests ended.

Asked about that discrepancy during the debate, Walz said that he’s “a knucklehead at times” and that his extensive travel to China “is about trying to understand the world, it’s about trying to do the best you can for the community.”

When pressed by the moderator further, he conceded that he “misspoke” and that he was in Hong Kong the year of the massacre but not at the time it happened.

Vance refused to say if he will accept election, doesn’t condemn Jan. 6

As the debate winded down, Vance was asked if he would seek to challenge the 2024 election even if every governor certified the results. However, the senator sidestepped the question and pivoted to what he claimed was Harris and tech companies censoring people. He also brought up the endorsements of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard.

Walz said he was troubled by Vance’s statement and said such denials needed to come to an end.

“Here we are, four years later, in the same boat. I will tell you, that when this is over, we need to shake hands, this election, and the winner needs to be the winner. This has got to stop. It’s tearing our country apart,” the governor said.

Walz continued to deflect from the question and at one point attacked Hillary Clinton.

“Did he lose the 2020 election?” Walz asked Vance, referring to Trump.

“Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance responded.

“That is a damning non-answer,” Walz shot back.

Vance did not back down on false claims about Springfield

The ongoing controversy stemming from Vance’s false claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, continued when Walz talked about the dangers it created for the community.

“The governor had to send state law enforcement to escort kindergartens to school. I believe Senator Vance wants to solve this but by standing with Donald Trump and not working together to find a solution, it becomes a talking point. And when it becomes a talking point like this, we dehumanize and villainize other human beings,” he said.

Local leaders and law enforcement have said there have been no valid reports of the Haitian immigrants stealing pets or spreading diseases that Vance has promoted. Vance did not promote those falsehoods on Tuesday but did continue to call the protected migrants with legal status “illegal.”

Vance also reiterated his claims that undocumented immigrants are contributing to a housing crisis and leading to a rise in crime.

“The people that I’m most worried about in Springfield, Ohio, are the American citizens who have had their lives destroyed by Kamala Harris’s open border,” he said.

Vance got heated when CBS News moderator Margaret Brennan again brought up the fact that the Haitian immigrants in Springfield were in the U.S. legally by being granted Temporary Protected Status.

As Vance tried to dispute her statement — and went back and forth with her and with Walz, the moderators said they needed to move on to the next topic before resorting to muting the candidates’ microphones.