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October 2, 2024 | Research
Democrat Fails, Hypocrisy, and Lies

What They Are Saying: JD Vance Won The Debate

Research

JD Vance Unequivocally Won Last Night’s Debate And Gave The Best Debate Performance From Any Vice Presidential Candidate In History

SENATOR JD VANCE WAS THE CLEAR WINNER OF LAST NIGHT’S DEBATE

  • John King, CNN: “The two issues driving the campaign right now… Vance carried it.”
  • Scott Jennings, CNN: “JD Vance won the debate with Tim Walz, hands down”
    • Jennings: “It’s pretty clear Vance outclassed Walz tonight.”
  • Linsey Davis, ABC News: “JD Vance needed to come away as that humble, likable guy from Hillbilly Elegy — it seemed like he did.”
  • Lisa Boothe, Fox News: “I don't think I've ever seen someone do better in a debate than @JDVance is doing right now.”
  • Guy Benson, Fox News: “Watching Vance on Fox with the sound off. You can tell from his demeanor and body language that he knows he had a good night.”
  • Brit Hume, Fox News: Vance “seemed to run rings around poor Governor Walz who I think did not have a very great night."
  • Binyamin Appelbaum, The New York Times: Vance “made Trumpism sound polite, calm and coherent.”
  • Ross Douthat, The New York Times: “For Vance, it was a commanding performance. For Walz, it was a nervous ramble.”
  • Megan Stack, The New York Times: “Vance nimbly reframed questions to his advantage, sounded deeply concerned about ordinary Americans and managed to appear forthright even when sidestepping or dissembling. Vance ran circles around Walz.”
  • Rich Lowry, National Review: “Vance is turning in the best debate performance we’ve seen in a long time”
  • Hugh Hewitt, The Hugh Hewitt Show: “Superb answer on illegal immigration from Vance. He’s very good at this and he nailed Kamala Harris on the ‘wide open southern border.’”
  • Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist: “Vance's may be the best debate performance I've ever seen.”
  • Megyn Kelly, The Megyn Kelly Show: “I don’t remember a better debate performance than the one JDV is delivering tonight. Stellar so far.”
  • David Frum, The Atlantic: “Vance is going home tonight with Walz’s wallet. Vance didn’t even have to snatch it, Walz just handed it over, along with a bunch of unearned compliments to Vance’s fine character.”
  • Jenn Pellegrino, Newsmax: “JD Vance is a master communicator… establishes credibility out of the gate, connects with Americans who may not be familiar with him. We’ve seen it on the campaign trail and it’s no different on debate night”
  • Geraldo Rivera, NewsNation: “Vance won this debate.”
  • Chris Cuomo, NewsNation: “"At one point, Vance wanted to correct something about how Haitians got into this country — and he was right— and the moderators wouldn't let him correct it."
  • Kristen Welker, NBC News: “I was getting texts from Democrats panicked, quite frankly, who were saying ‘wow he is really moderating himself on a lot of these issues, he’s the most likable he has ever been.’”
  • Clay Travis, The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show: “JD Vance just absolutely destroyed that CBS fact check. Love it!”
  • Matt Walsh, Daily Wire: “JD Vance might be delivering the best political debate performance we’ve ever seen. It’s that good.”
  • Piers Morgan, Fox Nation: “Just watched the VP debate.. JD Vance won easily with a very confident & impressive performance. Walz was awful - a weak, nervy, self-admitted knucklehead. Looks to me like Trump made a much better VP pick.”
  • House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA): “Senator @JDVance won this debate hands down, because he had answers, solutions, and polices that would help restore the American Dream for all.”
  • Ted Cruz (R-TX): “J.D. did an excellent job tonight and I got to say the winner of the debate tonight was Donald Trump, the loser of the debate tonight was Kamala Harris.”
  • Eric Schmitt (R-MO): “.@JDVance is killing it.”
  • Lil Pump, Rapper: “JD Vance is demolishing Walz. Great speaker and really explaining things in detail. He’s a real leader and even admitting to areas where we can improve and explaining how to do it.”
  • Bill O’Reilly: “Vance embarrasses Margaret Brennan for falsely fact checking him.  Big points for the Senator.”
  • Sean Spicer: “JD Vance is owning this debate”
  • Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA: “JD Vance just won big. And it wasn’t even close.”

TIM WALZ WAS THE CLEAR LOSER OF LAST NIGHT’S DEBATE

  • Meghan McCain: “Tim Walz looks like he’s going to vomit on himself.”
    • McCain: “Now I see why they aren’t letting Walz do one on one interviews…”
    • McCain: “I’ve been saying from day 1 - Walz is actually the weird one in all of this…”
    • McCain: “Walz is so uncomfortable it’s hard to watch.”
    • McCain: “No one should ever say debates don't matter because Walz has done a lot of damage this evening.”
  • Jonathan Karl, ABC News: “Walz did seem unsteady and, frankly, what I saw in Walz is somebody who has not faced questions on a national stage ... In contrast, JD Vance was very smooth.”
  • Abby Phillip, CNN: “JD Vance came to this debate to land a bunch of punches... and he did. Tim Walz did not seem prepared for it.”
  • Dana Bash, CNN: "I think the lack of interviews that [Walz] has done with national media, with local media, it showed"
  • Scott Jennings, CNN: “I'll say this for Walz, he has perfected a look of sheer terror and complete bafflement all at the same time.”
  • John King, CNN: “Republicans are happy tonight and Democrats a little bit nervous.”
  • Ben Shapiro, Daily Wire: “Walz is looking sweaty, puzzled, and alarmed. The split screen is quite bad for him.”
  • Frank Luntz, Pollster: “’I’ve become friends with school shooters’ may be the worst line in any 2024 debate.”’
  • Sohrab Ahmari, Compact Magazine: “Walz became a liability to Kamala tonight.”
  • Brit Hume, Fox News: Walz “did not have a very great night... it wasn’t close”
  • Rich Lowry, The National Review: “I’ve never seen a national candidate look as nervous as Tim Walz when he’s not speaking.”
  • Daniel McCarthy, Modern Age: “Vance won with a stronger start, then Walz lost with a closing statement boasting of a Harris coalition ‘from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift.’ Socialism, endless war and manufactured teen feelings are the last things voters want or need in November.”
  • Tim Alberta, The Atlantic: “malpractice that Walz didn't have a sharp, succinct answer to the Tiananmen Square question ready to go.”
  • Nolan Finley, The Detroit News: “One notable exception was Walz’s long and rambling response to why he said he was at the Tiananmen Square uprising in Hong Kong as a young man when he wasn’t. … It was a terrible moment for him, and his nervous dodging and darting made him look like, well, a liar.”
  • Byron Donalds (R-FL): “Tim Walz is not good at this.”
  • Tom Cotton (R-AR): “It's clear why Tim Walz refuses to do interviews.”
  • Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN): “Governor Walz was a little rattled and Senator Vance came out stronger”

THIS MORNING’S HEADLINES AGREE, VANCE WON HANDIDLY

  • Politico: “Vibe Check: JD Vance Is Doing Really Well Tonight”
    • Politico: “It Was A Very Midwestern Debate. And Vance Won.”
  • The New York Times: “Who Won The Debate? A Crisp Vance Fends Off Walz”
  • Slate: “J.D. Vance Won The Debate. But Tim Walz Got The Clip.”
    • Slate: “The Brutal Tim Walz Tactical Error That Cost Him The Debate.”
  • Newsweek: “JD Vance Exceeds Expectations in Debate.”
    • Newsweek: “Tim Walz ‘Like A Deer In The Headlights’ – Analysts On Who Won VP Debate”
  • Fox News: “Reactions Roll In For VP Debate As Critics Give Vance A Win Over Walz”
  • New York Post: “Tim Walz Is Rocked By Cool JD Vance, Admits ‘I’m A Knucklehead’ During Genial VP Debate”
  • The Wall Street Journal: “Vance Confident, Walz Uneven in Debate Heavy on Policy.”
  • The Hill: “Vance Edges Walz In Overnight Polling Of VP Debate Performances”
  • The Washington Post: “In Debate, Walz Struggles To Answer Question On His Time In Hong Kong.”

POLLING AND FOCUS GROUPS HAVE ALL COME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION: VANCE WON

  • USA TODAY Poll: 56 percent said Vance won the debate versus 44 percent who said Walz won.
  • CNN Poll: 51 percent said Vance won the debate versus 49 percent who said Walz won.
  • CNN Post Debate Focus Group: “An overwhelming majority said they thought Vance won last night.”
  • CBS News/YouGov Poll: 42 percent said Vance won the debate versus 41 percent who said Walz won.
  • CBS News Focus Group: In Kent County, Michigan, “we asked voters who do they think won, they said JD Vance.”
  • Frank Luntz, Pollster: “At the first commercial break, my #VPDebate focus group says by a 10-3 margin that JD Vance is winning. That is a big deal since only 5 of them were leaning toward Trump-Vance when the debate began.”
    • Luntz: “Final focus group vote tonight after the #VPDebate: 12-2 in favor of JD Vance”
  • The Washington Post Focus Group: “Who won the VP debate?” 14-8 in favor of Vance.