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What Lies Beneath a “Cordial” Debate

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J. D. Vance has floundered in the day-to-day “retail politics” aspect of the running-mate gig. (Take, for example, his recent strained interaction with a doughnut-shop employee.) But he nonetheless came across lucid at the lectern during last night’s vice-presidential debate.

You’re Killing Me, Walz

About half an hour into last night’s vice-presidential debate, the CBS anchor Margaret Brennan turned to Tim Walz and asked a question that the Minnesota governor had to have known would come. “You said you were in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989,” she said, noting that new reporting suggests Walz didn’t go to Asia until months later.

The Choice America Now Faces in Iran

For the second time in less than half a year, Iran has hurled hundreds of missiles at Israel. Although Iran technically launched more weapons at Israel in April, only 120 of those were ballistic missiles—a smaller salvo than the more than 180 ballistic missiles used this time. The drones and cruise missiles used in April were more easily intercepted and shot down by Israeli, American, and European air defenses, working in cooperation with some of Israel’s Arab partners.

Fact-Checking Is Not a Political Strategy

In the lead-up to last night’s vice-presidential debate between J. D. Vance and Tim Walz, CBS’s decision not to have moderators provide live fact-checking became a minor controversy. One pundit argued that this amounted to giving the truth-challenged Vance “license to lie,” and many of the Democratic faithful voiced similar complaints on social media. Mother Jones went so far as to precheck the debate. The X account for the Kamala Harris campaign declared: “JD Vance is going to lie tonight.

The Vance Warning

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Tim Walz stumbled and struggled on the debate stage in New York last night, while J. D. Vance spoke smoothly and effectively.
I’ve known Vance for 15 years. In that time, I’ve witnessed many reinventions of the Vance story, heard many different retellings of who he is and what he believes. Last night, he debuted one more retelling. His performance of the role was well executed. The script was almost entirely fiction.

JD Vance Tries to Hide His Hard-Line Anti-Abortion Record by Coopting Democratic Talking Points

Abortion was a main focus of Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance. The Ohio senator tried to soften the Republican ticket’s position and repeated Donald Trump’s claim that states are best equipped to decide on reproductive health access, while Walz highlighted that state differences on abortion have already contributed to the deaths of pregnant people following the end of Roe v. Wade.

Walz Decries Demonizing Immigrants After Trump & Vance Spread Lies About Haitians in Springfield, OH

Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance focused heavily on immigration policy. Walz promoted the asylum restrictions of the Biden administration and touted his running mate Kamala Harris’s bill to further militarize the southern U.S. border. Vance, meanwhile, continued Donald Trump’s demonization of immigrants, including the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, that they falsely accused of eating people’s pets.

As Hurricane Helene Death Toll Tops 166, Vance Casts Doubt on Climate Science & Carbon Emissions

CBS moderators asked about the climate crisis in Tuesday’s debate between vice-presidential contenders JD Vance and Tim Walz, responding to pressure from activists who urged the network to tie the devastation of Hurricane Helene to the planet’s rising temperatures. “The fact that this question was asked … was a major win for our movement,” says Shiva Rajbhandari, a student climate justice organizer at UNC-Chapel Hill and a spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement.

In VP Debate, JD Vance Downplays Jan. 6 Insurrection & Refuses to Admit Trump Lost 2020 Election

Vice-presidential nominees Tim Walz and JD Vance faced off Tuesday night in their first and only debate ahead of November’s election. The debate started with a focus on the Iranian missile attack on Israel before moving on to the climate crisis, immigration policy, abortion rights and more. One of the most memorable moments was Vance’s refusal to admit that his running mate Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

Regional War Feared as Biden Backs Israel’s Threat to Retaliate After Iranian Missile Attack

Israel has announced it is sending more troops into southern Lebanon as the Middle East moves closer to a full-scale regional war. On Tuesday, Iran fired at least 180 ballistic missiles at Israel that Iran says targeted Israeli military and security sites, a response that comes after a series of escalating Israeli attacks in recent months against Hezbollah, Hamas and Iranian leaders.