Walz and Vance agree to disagree in a largely civil VP debate
Tim Walz and JD Vance's debate was a textbook performance of Midwest nice: feints at consensus serving as rhetorical fig leaves that often gave way to more cutting, though politely delivered, attacks.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he believes his rival for vice president, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, wants to solve the nation’s immigration crisis, but he questioned whether former President Donald Trump really does.
Vance acknowledged that Walz wants to solve the problem, too, but he questioned whether Vice President Kamala Harris really does.
Walz agreed with “a lot of what Sen. Vance said” about Americans not trusting Republicans on abortion. Vance said he and Walz “probably agree that we need to do better” on addressing gun violence. And Walz conceded that he was “in agreement” with much of what Vance had said about decades of trade policy that enabled manufacturing jobs to move overseas.
On and on it went at Tuesday night’s debate between Walz and Vance, who met in person for the first time and put on a textbook performance of Midwest nice: feints at consensus serving as rhetorical fig leaves that often gave way to more cutting, though politely delivered, attacks.
The running mates — Vance a right-wing Republican, Walz a progressive Democrat aiming to appeal to moderates — used the words “agree” or “agreement” or “I don’t disagree” more than a dozen times to describe the common ground they share.
Rating: 5