Left-wing media figures and outlets panned Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s debate performance against Sen. JD Vance following the CBS-moderated event Tuesday evening, giving Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate low marks across the board.
CNN’s Abby Phillips, Dana Bash, and Jake Tapper, notably, were all critical of Walz, with each of them alternately opining that he appeared to either lack debate prep or had far too much of it and was not quick enough on his feet to counter Vance’s many jabs at Harris.
At one point during post-debate analysis, Tapper even claimed that Vance is a “much more experienced” debater, a point that Bash said could be attributed to the fact that Walz — and Harris — have not done many media interviews.
“I think there was a clear lack of preparation and execution here,” anchor Abby Phillip said, noting how Vance managed to land some “punches.”
Bash had the opposite take. “I think he had too much preparation. He had so many lines that he was clearly trying to say,” she said. “I think the lack of interviews that he has done with national media, with local media — it showed he needed more.”
Tapper added that “JD Vance is much more experienced with this, at public speaking and defending himself and pivoting,” while host Anderson Cooper concluded that Walz seemed nervous on stage.
“It kind of reminded me of the June 27 debate, when Kamala Harris that night said of Joe Biden, ‘It was a slow start, but a strong finish,’” ABC News anchor Linsey Davis said regarding Walz’s debate against former President Donald Trump’s running mate. “And that’s how I felt Tim Walz kind of did tonight,” she added, per the New York Post.
Davis, who co-moderated the presidential debate on September 10 between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump alongside David Muir, suggested that Vance was more “effective” at challenging Harris on Tuesday than Trump had been the previous month.
“I feel like that was really effective,” Davis said of Vance, who noted frequently during the debate that Harris has not pressed for any of the issues and policies she claims to support now.
“You know, to use Tim Walz, his own words, I mean, a lot about this debate tonight was, was weird,” she added. “There were comfortable, cringey moments, but overall, my take on this was that JD Vance needed to come away as that humble, likable guy from ‘Hillbilly Elegy.’ It seemed like he did perhaps get some points in that.”
Vance planned to hold Harris’ running mate “accountable,” according to a Minnesota Republican lawmaker who has played Walz during Vance’s debate prep.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said during an interview on Sunday he believes that Vance holds an advantage over Walz on the issues that have consistently polled as the most important to voters this election cycle. CBS News will host the debate, moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan of “Face the Nation,” The Hill noted.
“He’s going to do a great job,” Emmer told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz regarding Vance. “I can tell you, he’s got the issues on his side, Martha. He could talk about the economy that Donald Trump fixed and that Harris and Biden broke. He can talk about the border that Trump fixed and they broke. He can talk about peace and stability around the world, which they don’t even have a clue.”
“Once he understands that Tim Walz is just going to try and deflect and go into this folksy whatever, he’ll hold him accountable. I think JD will do a great job,” Emmer added.
