Economy, healthcare and defending previous comments

The debate, moderated by CBS News in New York City, could be the last event featuring candidates from both campaigns, as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are not currently scheduled to debate again.

Here are five key takeaways from the debate.

It wasn’t really about Vance or Walz

It was immediately clear that the two prominent politicians on stage were merely proxies for their peers, using the questions as a vehicle to attack their top rivals and, on many occasions, going out of their way not to attack each other personally.

Walz used his first question about the Iranian attacks on Israel to target Trump’s age: “An almost 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowds is not what we need at this moment.” He then attacked the world over “Donald Trump’s capricious leadership.”

Vance responded: “Who has been vice president for the last three and a half years? And the answer is your vice president, not mine. Donald Trump has consistently made the world safer.”

In the next section on climate change, Walz hit Trump again: “Donald Trump called it a hoax and then joked that these things would lead to more beachfront property investment.”

On immigration, Vance dodged when asked how Trump would carry out his mass deportation promise, repeatedly attacking Harris: “I’ve been to the southern border more times than our border czar, Kamala Harris.”

In particular, both men said they were convinced that their rival on the stage wanted to resolve the border issue as well as other areas of political disagreement.

“I believe Senator Vance wants to solve this problem, but by standing with Donald Trump and not working together to find a solution, it becomes a talking point,” Walz said.

Vance replied, “I actually think I agree with you. I think you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think Kamala Harris wants to.”

The most tension between them came near the end, when Walz bluntly asked Vance if Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance didn’t give a clear answer, but instead asked Walz a question about censorship related to the Covid-19 pandemic on Facebook.

Walz admits he screwed up the Tiananmen Square story

Walz had a nervous first response before later settling into a rhythm. But he stumbled a few times when asked about the false claim that he had visited Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989, although a Minnesota Public Radio report said he had actually been there later that year be.

Walz initially dodged the question: “I wasn’t perfect and sometimes I’m a dick,” he said, while giving a long and winding answer about his upbringing and expressing his commitment to Minnesotans throughout his career.

When a moderator asked, Walz admitted, “I got there this summer and I spelled it wrong.”

That’s the kind of question that’s played out in past statements and is often asked of national political candidates — but Walz has largely avoided media interviews and therefore hasn’t taken many questions since becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Vance defends his reliance on previous criticism of Trump

When asked to explain his past criticism of Trump, Vance was well-prepared with an answer. He said, among other things, that he could be “America’s Hitler” and criticized Trump’s economic record as president.

“Sometimes, of course, I disagree with the president, but I have also been very open about saying that I was wrong about Donald Trump. First, I was wrong because I believed some of the media reports that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his story,” Vance said, entering territory he and his campaign have discussed in media interviews and responses to reports.

Vance continued: “But most importantly, Donald Trump has delivered for the American people: rising wages, rising take-home pay, an economy that works for ordinary Americans, a secure southern border… When you make mistakes, when you speak wrong , if you… “If something goes wrong and you change your mind, you should be honest with the American people.”

He also placed some blame on Congress, saying there were “a lot of things at the border, with tariffs” that “could have done so much more if the Republican Congress and the Democrats in Congress had been a little better at it.” how they ruled the country.” .”

Walz and Vance review their competitors’ economic records

Walz was armed with an argument to attack Trump on the economy, which is one of the Republican candidate’s biggest issues, according to polls asking voters who they trust to handle the economy.

“Kamala Harris’s first day was Donald Trump’s failure on Covid that led to the collapse of our economy. We were already in a manufacturing recession before Covid – about 10 million people were working, the largest percentage since the Great Depression,” Walz said.

Vance responded by attacking Biden and Harris’ economic record as “cruel” and defending Trump.

“Honestly, Tim, I think you got a tough job here because you got to play Whac-A-Mole,” he said, accusing Walz of “having to act” as if Trump’s economy had improved wages and reduced inflation.

Walz also attacked Trump on taxes and trade policy.

“If you’re listening tonight and you want billionaires to get tax breaks,” Walz told voters as he looked through the television screen, “Trump is your candidate.” “How is it fair that you pay your taxes every year and Donald Trump hasn’t paid federal taxes in the last 15 years?”

Vance’s revisionist history of Trump’s push to repeal Obamacare

Vance rewrote the story of Trump’s years-long effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” and instead repeated the campaign’s claim that Trump saved it.

“Donald Trump could have destroyed the program. Instead, he worked in a bipartisan manner to ensure that Americans had access to affordable health care,” Vance said when asked about Trump saying he had “concepts for a plan” to replace the 2010 health care law.