Democrats accuse J.D. Vance of 'sanewashing the crazy' and say voters would 'have to be literally on crack' to believe Republican

Democrats have accused Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance of 'sanewashing the crazy' and said voters would 'have to be literally on crack' to believe him at the vice presidential debate.

Liberal political commentator Van Jones led the criticism on CNN Tuesday night, accusing the Ohio senator of repeatedly lying about his and former President Donald Trump's policies.

'I think what you saw tonight was the kitchen table versus the Ivy League,' he said, noting: 'I went to the same law school as JD Vance, and that's how they teach us to do it. Slick, slick, slick.

'The problem is, JD Vance changes personalities like most people change suits, and his job was to come out tonight and try to sane wash the crazy. Sane wash all the crazy stuff he said against women, against Haitians. He sane washed Donald Trump.

'And he would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for but the pesky facts,' Jones claimed. 'He lied the entire night.

'He lied about American energy production, which is up, he said it's down. He lied about health care, he said Donald Trump saved Obamacare.

'You have to be literally on crack,' to believe what Vance said, Jones argued, before going into what he claimed more falsehoods the vice presidential candidate made at the only debate between him and Democrat Gov. Tim Walz.

'He lied about the insurrection, he said we had a peaceful transfer of power. He lied. He said he never supported a national abortion ban.

'Donald Trump is gaslighter in chief and this is his loyal lieutenant who came out here to try to polish up the crazy,' Jones argued. 'And I think Americans need to be very, very careful.

'This is a very, very deceptive guy. We are trained to do what he did. And, don't fall for it,' Jones warned.

Vance, 40, had tried throughout the CBS debate Tuesday night to soften his and Trump's image, while acknowledging that people watching might not agree with him or Trump.

He downplayed Trump’s plans for mass deportations and said the GOP needs to earn back the trust of Americans on abortion, while reminding viewers of his modest upbringing - noting that he was raised by 'two lifelong blue collar Democrats.' 

The Republican senator argued that the 15,000 Haitians in the city of Springfield, Ohio caused housing, economic and other issues that the Biden-Harris administration was ignoring.

When the debate moderators pointed out that the Haitians living there had legal status, Vance protested that CBS News had said its moderators would not be fact-checking, leaving the onus to the candidates. 

As Vance continued and the moderators tried to move on, his microphone was cut off and neither man could be heard.

Then, when the issue of abortion was raised, Vance spoke of a close friend who 'told me something a couple of years ago that she felt like if she hadn’t had that abortion, that it would have destroyed her life because she was in an abusive relationship.'

Vance then called for the party to be more 'pro-family' in every sense of the word, but denied ever supporting a national abortion ban.

Trump also posted on his Truth Social site during the debate that he would veto any national abortion ban.

Vance also downplayed Trump's role in the January 6 riot, saying the former president told people to 'peacefully' march to the US Capitol.

The real threat to democracy, Vance claimed, was censorship of the opposition.

'We ought to debate our differences. We ought to argue about them. Kamala Harris is engaged in censorship on an industrial scale,' Vance said.

But Walz said Vance was helping to deny 'the first time in American history that a president or anyone tried to overturn a fair election and the peaceful transfer of power'

He also asked Vance if Trump won the election in 2020.

'I’m focused on the future,' Vance responded, dodging the question

'That is a damning non-answer,' Walz shot back, as he tried to depict Trump as wrong on the issues and a chaotic leader.

But Walz occasionally stumbled over his words, even saying at one point, 'I’ve become friends with school shooters' when he was talking about meeting with survivors.

In the end, many political experts DailyMail.com spoke to agreed that Vance proved to be stronger in the debate.

Jonathan Bronitsky, former chief speechwriter for Trump's Attorney General Bill Barr and co-founder and CEO of ATHOS, for example, said that the Republican senator 'showed the country' why Trump picked him as his running mate.

'If you’re a progressive, you’re likely sweating, confronted with the undeniable reality that Vance is a formidable force,' Bronitsky argued

In particular, he said Vance - who he called a 'breath of fresh air' - thrived while correcting the CBS moderators' 'misinformation' particularly on the immigration question. 

'He also skillfully navigated their gotcha question, acknowledging that his earlier criticism of Trump stemmed from falling for mainstream media distortions and fabrications.'

James Gilmore, the former governor of Virginia, also told DailyMail.com that Vance came across as 'very reasonable' 

'Coming into the debate, they had put a lot of attacks on Vance. I think that stuff goes away now. I thought Vance looked very capable and very good.'

He went on to say that the CBS moderators were 'biased' and 'pretty awful.' Especially when they cut Vance's mic in response to the migrant question.

But Walz appeared as though he was 'running for reelect as governor of Minnesota,' Gilmore argued.

Meanwhile, David Litt, former President Obama's senior speechwriter, said that Walz's performance was 'less polished,' which let Vance off the hook with some of his more outlandish claims.

'Donald Trump did his running mate a huge favor - by losing so badly in his debate with Kamala Harris, he made it easy for J.D. Vance to beat expectations,' Litt argued.

He said the 'low standard' helped the Republican succeed and lean into the role of a 'slick, polished politician' as opposed to a 'creepy podcast bro.'

'But when it mattered most Walz sounded like a regular person and came out on top. Debates are about big moments, and the biggest, by far, was Vance smugly refusing to acknowledge that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. I’d love it if every undecided voter could watch this debate just to see that exchange.' 

Litt went on to say Trump is the 'big loser' of the night for continuing to duck more debates with Harris.