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Walz-Vance debate updates: VP candidates tangle on abortion, immigration and Jan. 6

Walz and Vance squared off for the first and only time this election cycle.

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Ivan Pereira, Meredith Deliso, Brittany Gaddy, and Tal Axelrod
Last Updated: October 1, 2024, 11:54 PM EDT

Vice presidential candidates Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance squared off for the first and only time this election season.

Unlike the last two presidential debates, the candidates appeared to be more cordial. However, both running mates criticized the presidential candidates on a host of issues including gun violence, reproductive rights, immigration and climate change.

Walz appeared to have nerves in the opening of debate, but went on the attack as the night went on. Vance took aim at Harris and her policies and pushed Trump's policies.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing:
Tia Yang Image
ByTia Yang
Oct 01, 2024, 9:17 PM EDT

Americans are torn about Israel's actions so far

Americans are fairly split about what's happening in the Middle East and America's role in it. In a YouGov/The Economist poll from Sept. 21-24, 18 percent favored increasing military aid to Israel, 38 percent favored decreasing military aid, and 25 percent thought the U.S. should maintain the same amount. (20 percent were not sure.) They were similarly mixed on whether the Israeli government's response to Oct. 7 has been too harsh.

More than half of Americans, 51 percent, thought it was fairly or very likely the conflict would lead to a wider war. The recent escalation of conflict in the region likely furthers those worries.

—538's Monica Potts

Tia Yang Image
ByTia Yang
Oct 01, 2024, 9:14 PM EDT

Vance squeezes in an opening statement

Tonight’s debate didn’t start with opening statements, instead launching right into a question about conflict in the Middle East. At least one of the candidates thought that was pretty awkward, as Vance tried to answer the question by introducing himself first. That’s important for Vance, as America doesn’t really like him: He has a net favorability rating of -11 percentage points, according to 538’s average.

—538’s Nathaniel Rakich

Oct 01, 2024, 9:13 PM EDT

Candidates pressed on Iran attack on Israel

Both candidates were pressed in the first question on whether they'd support a preemptive Israeli strike on Iran if it was determined that Tehran had secured a nuclear weapon.

Walz started off shaky, at one point confusing Israel and Iran but declaring that Harris would provide "steady leadership" while noting that at the first presidential debate, "80-year-old Donald Trump" was "talking about crowd sizes."

Vance began by rattling off his biography before saying that "Donald Trump actually delivered stability in the world" by creating "deterrence" and "peace through strength."

The Dome of the Rock on the Al-Aqsa compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount is seen as projectiles fly through the sky, after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel, as seen from Jerusalem Oct. 1, 2024.
Jamal Awad/Reuters

Walz responded that Trump's "fickle leadership" helped Iran get near a weapon by backing out of a U.S.-led nuclear deal and that "we need the steady leadership that Kamala Harris is providing."

Oct 01, 2024, 9:04 PM EDT

Walz, Vance shake hands before debate begins

Walz and Vance shook hands before the debate started.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz shake hands at the start of the Vice Presidential debate in New York City, Oct. 1, 2024.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

There was no handshake during the last vice presidential debate because of the COVID-19 pandemic.