Tim Walz and JD Vance Debate Time and Channel

Democrat vice presidential candidate Tim Walz will face Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance in a debate tonight, and it won’t be like the one between VP Harris and Donald Trump, where there was a clear victor. JD Vance is not only well-educated, but he’s a perfect spinmaster. He’s able to effectively, even if ridiculously, frame Donald Trump’s nonsensical statements into seemingly legitimate everyday concerns of the everyday person. That’s a problem.

JD Vance: A Tactical Liar

JD Vance has a long history of taking shots at Donald Trump and shredding him as a threat to democracy. He’s said enough negative things about Trump to write a book, yet he’s Donald Trump’s vice president pick. Trump is a man known to be as vengeful as they come, and this has recently been demonstrated by his threat of retribution following his felony convictions. The size of the pill Trump had to swallow to choose JD Vance would choke the average person. But Vance succeeded in convincing Trump to pick him, even if it was with the help of Trump’s sons.

When asked about Trump’s false claims of Haitian immigrants eating pets, Vance admitted to “creating” the story but then said that his constituents were reporting personal accounts. Although any specific claims have been proven false, Vance is relying on something many lawyers do: a negative can’t be disproven m. A person can’t independently survey every Haitian in Springfield, Ohio, for pet-eating suspicions. Therefore, it is easy for Vance to say, “It’s happening… somewhere.”

As you can see above, JD Vance can turn an outrageous lie into something more palatable for the conspiracy theorist in mere seconds. As a question is being asked to him, you can see him processing every word a thousand times as the person speaks. And when he responds, as ridiculous as his position is, his euphemisms make him seem, at the very least, not crazy.

The Problem

Tim Walz is a down-to-Earth guy, but his debating skills might not match that of JD Vance’s because he isn’t a liar. In tonight’s debate, mics will be unmuted, and each candidate will be responsible for fact-checking the other. In this 90-minute debate, a good chunk of that time could be spent by Tim Walz trying to swat down JD Vance’s inevitable lies.

And so that puts Walz in an awkward position: Does he ignore the lies and let the media cover them post-debate, or does he address — at least in part — Vance’s lies on the spot. If he does not, he risks looking weak. If he does, he risks wasting precious time that could have been spent on policy.

Also, Walz seems to have a more aggressive temperament than Vance. Where Vance might be able to take being trolled because he’s a troll, Walz is more straightforward and likely to lose his composure than JD Vance. If Vance loses his composure, it will be evident in his increasing or more frequent lies. If Walz does, he might end up cutting Vance off more often and raising his voice.

The Winner Will Be

Although Walz has a solid political career and has likely seen his fair share of debates, Vance is a lawyer or at least was. He has solid experience spinning stories to fit his version of reality, and he isn’t afraid to lie with a straight face. This won’t be the absolute destruction seen when VP Harris demolished Trump. If Walz does win, it will be a modest win, symbolic of the man himself.

The debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance airs tonight at 9 pm Eastern Time and will be hosted by CBS News.

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