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How did the vice presidential debate play out on social media? | TribLIVE.com
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How did the vice presidential debate play out on social media?

Megan Swift
Megan Swift
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AP
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, with Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York.

Who won the vice presidential debate? Which candidate stumbled the most? Who looked comfortable? Rattled?

These were topics trending on social media after Tim Walz and JD Vance faced off Tuesday night on the debate stage, hosted by CBS News.

The Minnesota Democratic governor and Ohio Republican senator discussed policy following last month’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

According to a flash CBS News Poll, 42% of people believe Vance won the debate, 41% believe Walz won and 17% believe the debate resulted in a tie.

An NBC News poll of a focus group of six undecided voters in Pennsylvania resulted in a Walz win.

Vance delivered several strong takes on the economy that cut right at the heart of what the Democrats are facing in this election.

And many seemed to agree.

During the course of the over 90-minute debate, Walz had several verbal stumbles and admitted to “misspeaking,” the Associated Press reported.

He confused Iran and Israel when discussing the Middle East, said he had “become friends with school shooters” and stumbled through an explanation of inaccurate remarks about whether he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the AP said. He was not there at that time, he confirmed, according to the AP.

Since the debate, “misspoke” has been trending on the social media platform X, eliciting mixed reactions.

Hours before the debate began, Walz was spotted finishing a jog through Central Park.

“America’s Hitler” has also been trending on X post-vice presidential debate. Vance used to be a “bitter critic” of Trump, Reuters reported, previously calling him an “idiot,” saying he was “reprehensible” — and privately comparing him to Adolf Hitler.

Now, Vance is Trump’s running mate.

CBS News had said it would be up to the two candidates — not moderators Margaret Brennan and Norah O’Donnell — to fact-check each other during the debate. However, the station briefly cut off the candidates’ microphones during the immigration discussion, the AP reported.

After Vance talked about illegal immigrants overwhelming some American cities like Springfield, Ohio, Brennan interjected that the Haitians that had moved to that city were there legally, according to the AP.

“Since you’re fact-checking me, it’s important to say what is actually going on,” Vance said.

Vance said that it appeared CBS News was breaking the rules it had set down, the AP said.

“After briefly letting Vance speak, Brennan interrupted him and said it was time to move on to other issues,” the AP said. “They spoke over each other, until CBS News muted the microphones of both Vance and Walz, who were appearing at a studio in New York City.”

At the end of the debate, Vance would not answer Walz’s direct question of whether Trump lost the 2020 election.

Megan Swift is a TribLive reporter covering trending news in Western Pennsylvania. A Murrysville native, she joined the Trib full time in 2023 after serving as editor-in-chief of The Daily Collegian at Penn State. She previously worked as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the Trib for three summers. She can be reached at mswift@triblive.com.

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