Vice presidential candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz sparred over everything from U.S. foreign policy to inflation and abortion in a debate in New York on Tuesday night, laying out their perspectives. Completely opposite views of America as the race for the White House in 2024 enters its final stage.
The first and perhaps only debate between running mates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris took place hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he would do it. retaliation against Iran after the Islamic republic fired a series of ballistic missiles at Israel. Both vice presidential candidates were asked whether they supported Israel’s pre-emptive strike on Iran.
Walz echoed Harris’ comments earlier on Tuesday, when the vice president said she “unequivocally” condemned Iran’s attack and said she would “always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.”
But Walz also quickly turned its attention to Trump, accusing the former Republican president of being a “fickle” leader who abandoned multilateral alliances, including withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.
Vance defended Trump, saying that the former president predicted “peace through strength” during his four years in the White House, adding that “Israel has to do what it thinks it needs to do to keep the land Their water is safe.”
“When was the last time an American president did not have a major conflict?” Van asked. “The only answer is during Donald Trump’s four years as president.”
There is just over a month left until November presidential electionTuesday’s debate was seen as an opportunity for Vance, in particular, to improve his moderate approval ratings.
An Associated Press poll last week found that more than half — 57% — of registered voters had an unfavorable view of Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, compared with just under one a third disliked Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota.
Vance has taken a particularly strong stance on immigration since becoming Trump’s running mate, has at times stirred controversy by amplifying unfounded claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing domestic pets in order to eat them.
Vance on Tuesday said the United States faces a “historic immigration crisis” because of Harris and President Joe Biden’s rollback of Trump’s border policies, and said the country needs to continue building Build a border wall and deport undocumented immigrants.
Meanwhile, Walz blamed Trump and Republican lawmakers for killing the immigration reform bill earlier this year, and accused the Republican ticket of being “inhumane.”[ing] and villain[ing] other people”.
Vance stood by his comments about Springfield, saying the town’s schools, hospitals and housing market have been “overwhelmed” by the influx of migrants.
The debate was relatively peaceful compared to last month’s hostile confrontation between Trump and Harris. But the two vice presidential candidates became increasingly tense as they argued over abortion policy.
Reproductive rights have been a gaining issue for Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022, which upheld a national abortion right, and Party-led legislatures Republican leaders in states across the country have introduced increasingly strict bans on the abortion procedure. generally unpopular with the majority of Americans.
“Donald Trump started all of this,” Walz said. “He bragged about how great it was.”
Vance, who has taken a relatively strong stance against abortion and said he would support “national standards” to limit access to the procedure, has tried to soften his message on abortion, saying the Republican Party needs to “do a much better job of making money.” the confidence of the American people on this issue.”
Tuesday’s debate, hosted by CBS News, is probably the last televised debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle. While Harris has accepted CNN’s invitation for a presidential debate In late October, Trump said he had no intention of going on stage again.
the Financial Times poll tracker shows that while Harris leads Trump by 3.6 percentage points in national polls, the two candidates remain tied in all seven swing states that will determine who wins the White House.
The economy has always proven to be our weakness HarrisWalz and the Democratic Party, while voters are still reeling from inflation and blaming the Biden administration for high living costs. But Harris’s campaign has sought to exploit independent experts who have warned about Trump’s views. protectionist trade policy The proposal threatens to push prices even higher.
But Vance dismissed economists’ concerns on Tuesday, as he offered a strong defense of the tariffs, which he said would lead to better-paying jobs for workers. America.
“A lot of economists attack Donald Trump’s plans, and they have PhDs, but they don’t have common sense or intelligence,” Vance said. “If you’re trying to hire slave labor in China for $3 a day, you’re going to do that and drive down the wages of American workers, unless our country stands up for itself and saying you’re not going to have access to our market unless you’re paying middle class Americans a fair wage.”
the first presidential debate between Harris and Trump Last month on ABC was watched by more than 60 million people, according to Nielsen estimates, and was considered by many to be a “win” for Harris.
However, that confrontation did not have a significant impact on the votes of either candidate and few political operatives predicted Tuesday’s debate would change direction.
