Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz met in an Oct.
1 hosted by CBS News that was cordial and heavy on policy discussion — a striking change from the Sept. 10 debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Vance and Walz acknowledged occasional agreement on policy points and respectfully addressed each other throughout the debate.
But they were more pointed in their attacks on their rival’s running mates for challenges facing the country, including immigration and inflation. The moderators, “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, had said they planned to encourage candidates to fact-check each other, but sometimes clarified statements from the candidates. After Vance made assertions about Springfield, Ohio, being overrun by “illegal immigrants,” Brennen pointed out that a large number of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are in the country legally.
Vance objected and, eventually, CBS exercised the debate ground rule that allows the network to cut off the candidates’ microphones. Most points were not fact checked in real time by the moderators. Vance resurfaced a recent health care theme – that as president, Donald Trump sought to save the Affordable Care Act – and acknowledged that he would support a national abortion ban.
Walz described how health care looked before the ACA compared to today. Vance offered details about Trump’s healt.