At 9:00 p.m. on October 1 (US time, 9:00 a.m. on October 2 Vietnam time), the only live debate between the two vice presidential candidates Tim Walz (Democrat) and James David Vance (Republican) organized by CBS News took place.
This is the last chance for the presidential candidates to show themselves to a prime-time television audience before the 2024 election on November 5.
Mr. Walz, 60, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, and Mr. Vance, 40, a Republican senator from Ohio, both hail from the American Midwest, but have completely different styles and ideologies.
The Gaza conflict begins on October 7, 2023, and it is important for Democrats to draw on their “experience” after they thwarted an imminent Iranian attack on Israel, Walz said.
“The bottom line is that steady leadership is going to be critical… What we saw in Vice President Harris was a steady, calm presence in calling the coalition closer together and understanding that our allies matter,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee said.
According to him, Ms. Harris's ticket will remain committed to "protecting our forces and our allies."
For his part, Republican candidate JD Vance said Israel had a choice if it wanted to launch a preemptive strike, adding that he would support allies wherever they were “when they’re fighting bad guys.”
In response to Mr. Walz's answer about the Middle East conflict, Mr. Vance began by introducing himself.
In addition, Mr. Trump's ticket affirmed that the former US President "brought stability by using effective deterrence" because people are often afraid of crossing the line, but need peace through strength, and if anyone crosses the line, they will bring stability and peace to the world.
The second question on climate change was directed at Mr. Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, as the US has just experienced Hurricane Helene, which has killed at least 121 people in six southeastern states and left about 600 people missing.
“Climate change is a very important issue,” the Trump ally said. “Mr. Trump and I support clean air and clean water.”
This view differs from Democrats, who focus on carbon emissions, arguing that they drive all climate change.
“If we care about cleaner air and cleaner water, the best thing to do is invest more heavily in American workers and the American people, and unfortunately, Harris has done the opposite,” Mr. Vance said.
Responding to his opponent, Mr. Walz argued that, if elected, Mr. Trump's presidency would not be able to focus on the impact of climate change as he called the issue "a hoax."
“The solution for us is to keep moving forward, that climate change is real, and that mitigating its impacts is incredibly important,” Harris’s campaign said.
Migrants
Republican candidate JD Vance was asked about Mr Trump's policy of mass deportations of migrants who have crossed the US-Mexico border, how this would be implemented and whether it would involve family separation.
According to Mr. Vance, the Republican administration, if elected, would “start with criminal immigrants,” followed by “illegal aliens” who are “looking to depress the wages of American workers.”
He also criticized Ms. Harris for “opening” the border, which he said led to the fentanyl crisis (an opioid that killed nearly 110,000 Americans as of April).
Immigration is an extremely difficult issue for both Democrats and Republicans due to the current record number of border crossings, while a bipartisan bill to limit the number of illegal immigrants proposed in Congress has been rejected due to obstruction by Mr. Trump's side.
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| Mr. Vance admitted to having made misjudgments about Donald Trump's campaign alliance in the past. (Source: AP) |
'I was wrong about Donald Trump'
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance again defended his previous stance when criticizing Mr Trump, stating: “I disagreed with the former President at times but I was very straightforward about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump.”
However, the former US President's ally affirmed: "But most importantly, Mr. Trump has brought benefits to the American people: wages increased, take-home pay increased, the southern border is protected."
Abortion rights
On an issue where Democrats tend to dominate, Mr. Walz has been sharply critical of former President Trump for overturning Roe v. Wade, highlighting the stories of women whose lives were threatened by abortion restrictions.
When Mr. Vance claimed that Democrats were “pro-abortion,” candidate Walz responded: “No, we are not. We are pro-women. We are pro-women’s right to choose for themselves.”
School shooting
Regarding the solution to school shootings, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said that security needs to be increased. He wants to see parents held accountable for children who commit mass shootings, but he emphasized that it must depend on each specific case.
Meanwhile, for his part, mentioning that his 17-year-old son witnessed a shooting, Mr. Walz said that we must consider the experiences of other countries to find solutions, while prioritizing "protecting the Second Amendment; protecting our children."
The Second Amendment provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon.
Threat to democracy
The riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was brought up in the debate, but Republican candidate JD Vance dodged the question as well as whether the election results would be challenged again, saying that the problem was the “threat of censorship” by Democrats, when controlling information on social media.
Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Walz said: “A president’s words matter. People hear them. So I think it’s about resolving our differences at the ballot box, shaking hands when we lose, being honest about it.”
“We need to get together, this election, and the winner needs to be the winner,” he said. “This has to stop. It’s tearing our country apart.”
For his part, Republican candidate Vance said: “I hope that we win, and I think we will win, but if Tim Walz is the next vice president, he will have my prayers, my best wishes and my help whenever he wants it.”
The debate, which ended after 90 minutes, was judged civilized and focused on policies.
Normally, vice presidential debates have no impact on undecided voters, however, this debate was somewhat different, as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump refused to participate in the second debate with his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
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