Walz, answering a question on whether he'd support a preemptive strike on Iran as it's launched missiles into Israel, quickly pivoted to painting Donald Trump as too dangerous for the country and the world in an unstable moment.
“What’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter,” said Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota. "And the world saw it on that debate stage a few weeks ago, a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need in this moment.”
Vance, in his reply, argued that Trump is an intimidating figure whose presence on the international stage is its own deterrent.
“Donald Trump actually delivered stability," he said.
The debate in New York hosted by CBS News opened with a sober tone that reflected growing domestic and international concerns about safety and security. It gives Vance, a Republican freshman senator from Ohio, and Walz, a two-term Democratic governor of Minnesota, the chance to introduce themselves, make the case for their running mates, and go on the attack against the opposing ticket.
Both men found unity on Hurricane Helene, which has devastated several states and caused massive flooding in North Carolina in particular. Walz mentioned the storm’s devastation and talked about working with governors across the country, saying they don’t let politics get in the way of collaborating.
Vance said, “I’m sure Gov. Walz joins me in saying our hearts go out to those innocent people.”
Border security also quickly came up in the debate.
Vance pointed to the lower number of illegal entries at the southern border during the Trump presidency and it was achieved through Trump's executive orders.
At one point, Walz was asked about multiple news reports that indicate he claimed he was in Hong Kong during the turbulence surrounding the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
On Tuesday, CNN posted a 2019 radio interview in which Walz stated he was in Hong Kong on the day of the massacre, when publicly available evidence suggests he was not. The Associated Press contacted the Harris-Walz presidential campaign regarding the misrepresentations and did not receive a response.
After a seven-week demonstration in Beijing led by pro-democracy students, China’s military fired heavily on the group on June 4, 1989, and left at least 500 people dead.
Minnesota Public radio reported Monday that publicly available accounts contradict a 2014 statement made by Walz, then a member of the U.S. House, during a hearing that commemorated the 25th anniversary of the massacre. Walz suggested that he was in the then-British colony of Hong Kong in May 1989, but he appears to have been in Nebraska. Public records suggest he left for Hong Kong and China in August of that year.
Walz refused to give a clear response to that challenge.
