Who won the vice presidential debate? Walz ‘fumbled bigly’ in ‘good old-fashioned’ spar with Vance

Despite a civilized and at times even convivial vice presidential debate, Democratic nominee Tim Walz at times appeared nervous and unprepared, while his rival JD Vance worked to downplay his image of an uncompassionate weirdo.

Ultimately, the Ohio Senator’s confidence, command of party lines and smooth delivery made a largely positive impression on Tuesday night, in contrast to that caused by several campaign controversies in recent weeks.

“JD Vance came to land a bunch of punches and he did... Tim Walz didn’t seem prepared for it,” said CNN’s Abby Phillip.

Walz had a shaky start to the debate, after being hit immediately with a question about the Middle East, which the Biden administration has faced ongoing criticism on, but later found his rhythm. Vance appeared largely unflustered.

Speaking on CNN, commentator David Urban said that he gave Vance “10 out of 10.” for JD Vance. “He landed a lot of good punches but he did so with an iron fist in a velvet glove,” Urban said.

“He was very smooth, he was likable, he looked presidential. He had a command of the facts. He wasn’t flustered, he was a guy you’d want to have a beer with.”

One of the stickiest moments for Walz came when he was challenged over his previous claims that he was in Hong Kong during the April 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. The Minnesota Governor offered a dodging response, before finally admitting he “misspoke.”

“Coach Walz fumbled bigly on Tiananmen Square… He went on and on, he should have just said ‘Look, I misspoke, I screwed up, I’m human’,” Urban said.

Alyssa Farah Griffin added: “Tim Walz was a little in over his head tonight, I think his performance got better by the end of the night.”