Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s debate performance against Sen. JD Vance Tuesday evening has been widely panned even by so-called “friendly” media figures on the left who are traditionally favorable to him and his presidential running mate, Kamala Harris. For starters, CNN contributors Dana Bash, Jake Tapper, and Abby Phillip—who have all voiced anti-Trump sentiments in the past—unanimously concurred Walz was definitely outmatched by Vance during the CBS-moderated event.
“I think we shouldn’t lose track, I think even in the civility of the fact that J.D. Vance came to this debate to land a bunch of punches, and he did. He landed a lot of punches in between all the niceties and all of that,” Phillip said to begin a post-debate segment. She further suggested that Walz was severely underprepared for the debate. CNN had previously reported that Walz felt very nervous about facing off against a “lawyer type” like Vance and was extremely concerned about disappointing Harris. “I think that there was a clear lack of preparation and execution here on Walz’s part,” Phillip said.
“I think actually it’s the opposite. I think he had too much preparation,” co-panelist Dana Bash followed up. “He had so many lines that he was clearly trying to say, that he didn’t listen. And when J.D. Vance said one of the many, many things he really hit Kamala Harris on, not Tim Walz, but Kamala Harris, he didn’t respond because he clearly had things in his mind.” Continuing, she said, “I think the lack of interviews that he has done with national media, with local media, it showed he needed more reps.” That led Tapper to make this observation: “J.D. Vance is much more experienced at this, at public speaking, at defending himself, at pivoting.”
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BREAKING: CNN admits JD Vance was the “much more experienced” debater. pic.twitter.com/p8bMCo8is7
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) October 2, 2024
“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 during post-debate discussions on her network. “And that’s how I felt Tim Walz kind of did tonight,” she added. Davis, who moderated the debate last month between former President Donald Trump and Harris with anchor David Muir, also said that Vance was more “effective” at going after the vice president.
“I feel like that was really effective,” Davis said of Vance repeatedly noting that the vice president has not pursued several of her stated policy goals during the last three and a half years she’s been in the White House. “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.”