YORK, Pa. — The day after their vice presidential debate in New York City, Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota jumped back on the campaign trail with stops in two crucial battleground states.

As he arrived at the airport near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, Walz pointed toward his debate hours earlier with Vance and told reporters, ‘New York City was a little crazy last night.’

Most pundits said Vance was the more polished of the two candidates on the vice presidential debate stage Tuesday night, although flash polls indicated debate watchers were mostly divided on which running mate was victorious.

An accidental response by Walz during the debate quickly went viral, as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate mistakenly said he had ‘become friends with school shooters.’ 

The mishap occurred when Walz was asked about changing positions on banning assault weapons, which he previously opposed but now supports. 

‘I sat in that office with those Sandy Hook parents. I’ve become friends with school shooters. I’ve seen it,’ Walz said.

Asked to clarify his debate gaffe, Walz said Wednesday, ‘I’m super passionate about this. The question came up about the school shooting. We’re talking about everything except school shootings. And I sat as a member of Congress with the Sandy Hook parents, and it was a profound movement.

‘David Hogg [a leading gun control activist and school shooting survivor] is a good friend of mine.’

Walz acknowledged ‘I need to be more specific on that. But I am passionate about this.’

Vance, speaking at a rally in Auburn Hills, Michigan, said he didn’t hear Walz’s comment until he was told about it during a conversation with his running mate, former President Trump, after the debate.

‘He said that Tim Walz said that he was friends with school shooters twice,’ Vance said, referencing his conversation with Trump. ‘And that’s something I actually didn’t notice that Tim Walz had said that on the debate stage.

‘I said, ‘Did he really say that, sir?’ And he [Trump] said, ‘I’m telling you, man, go and watch the clips.’

‘And I said that was probably only the third or fourth-dumbest comment Tim Walz made that night.’

The debate moderators also confronted Walz on his claim to have been in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, China.

Walz admitted he traveled to Asia in August 1989, several months after the April 15 massacre, adding he can be ‘a knucklehead at times.’

The governor on Wednesday reiterated that he had his ‘dates wrong.’

Trump, in an interview Wednesday with Fox News’ Brooke Singman, called his running mate’s performance ‘fantastic’ and that it had ‘reconfirmed my choice.’ 

The former president also argued that Walz had ’embarrassed himself’ during the debate.

Another major moment in the debate came near the end, when Vance wouldn’t say that President Biden won the 2020 election over Trump. The former president for four years has repeatedly made unproven claims that the election was rigged and rampant with voter fraud.

Walz, on Wednesday, once again emphasized that ‘it is disqualifying to not acknowledge that the 2020 election was won by Joe Biden. It’s as simple as that.’

An hour later, speaking to a large crowd at a rally at the York Fairgrounds, Walz charged that ‘you can’t rewrite history. And trying to mislead us about Donald Trump’s record. That’s gaslighting.’

Vance, asked about his avoidance of answering the 2020 election question during the debate, reiterated his charge on Wednesday that ‘the simple reason’ is that ‘the media is obsessed with talking about the election of four years ago. I’m focused on the election of 33 days from now because I want to throw Kamala Harris out of office and get back to commonsense, economic policies.’

Walz arrived at his rally in York to cheers as he pulled into the York Exposition Center riding his campaign bus.

But York is Trump country. The former president won York County by roughly 25 points over Biden in 2020.

Walz’s Pennsylvania swing through Harrisburg, York and Reading kicked off what the Harris campaign described as a more aggressive post-debate travel and voter engagement blitz by the governor, with stops in two other battleground states — Arizona and Nevada — and a fundraising blitz in Ohio, California and Washington

And the campaign noted that Walz would participate in more media interviews. Vance has done dozens of interviews and repeatedly fielded questions from reporters on the campaign trail since Trump named the senator as his running mate 2½ months ago.

Vance made the first of his two stops in Michigan in Auburn Hills, at Visioneering, an automotive industry tool supplier.

Auburn Hills is in Oakland County, which has swung heavily toward the Democrats in recent election cycles. Biden carried the county by roughly 14 points over Trump four years ago.

Michigan and Pennsylvania are two of seven key battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump and will likely determine whether Trump or Harris win the 2024 presidential election.

Fox News’ Deirdre Heavey and Kirill Clark contributed to this report

U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday unsealed a key filing in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election case against former President Trump. 

Chutkan unsealed Smith’s 165-page filing after the special counsel submitted the document, in which he lays out the case and alleged evidence he intends to use in an eventual trial against Trump. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by Smith. 

Trump, himself, fired back against Smith on Wednesday blasting the case as 2024 election interference. 

‘Democrats are Weaponizing the Justice Department against me because they know I am WINNING, and they are desperate to prop up their failing Candidate, Kamala Harris,’ Trump posted on his Truth Social. ‘The DOJ pushed out this latest ‘hit job’ today because JD Vance humiliated Tim Walz last night in the Debate.’ 

Trump said the DOJ ‘has become nothing more than an extension of Joe’s, and now Kamala’s, Campaign.’ 

‘This is egregious PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT, and should not have been released right before the Election,’ Trump said. ‘The Democrat Party is turning America into a Third World Country that tries to censor, harass, and intimidate their Political Opponents. What they have done to our Justice System is one of the Great, All Time, Tragedies.’ 

The former president added that the Democrat Party ‘is guilty of the Worst Election Interference in American History.’ 

‘They are trying to DESTROY OUR DEMOCRACY, allowing millions of people to enter our Country illegally. They are determined to stop us from winning back the White House, sealing the Border, and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. BUT THEY WILL FAIL, AND WE WILL SAVE OUR NATION!’ Trump posted. 

Trump also blasted Smith as ‘deranged,’ and said that he, the ‘Harris-Biden DOJ, and Washington, D.C. based Radical Left Democrats, are ‘HELL BENT on continuing to Weaponize the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power.’ 

”TRUMP’ is dominating the Election cycle, leading in the Polls, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are totally ‘freaking out.’ This entire case is a Partisan, Unconstitutional, Witch Hunt, that should be dismissed, entirely, just like the Florida case was dismissed!’ Trump said. 

The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts. 

Smith was then required to file another indictment against Trump, revising the charges in an effort to navigate the Supreme Court ruling. The new indictment kept the prior criminal charges but narrowed and reframed allegations against Trump after the high court’s ruling that gave broad immunity to former presidents. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in the new indictment as well. 

In the filing unsealed Wednesday, Smith outlines a ‘factual proffer,’ alleging Trump ‘resorted to crimes to try to stay in office’ after losing the 2020 presidential election.

‘With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,’ Smith wrote. 

‘His efforts included lying to state officials in order to induce them to ignore true vote counts; manufacturing fraudulent electoral votes in the targeted states; attempting to enlist Vice President Michael R. Pence, in his role as President of the Senate, to obstruct Congress’s certification of the election by using the defendant’s fraudulent electoral votes; and when all else had failed, on January 6, 2021, directing an angry crowd of supporters to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification.’ 

Smith claims that the ‘throughline of these efforts was deceit,’ claiming Trump and co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to interfere with the federal government function by which the nation collects and counts election results, which is set forth in the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act (ECA); a conspiracy to obstruct the official proceeding in which Congress certifies the legitimate results of the presidential election; and a conspiracy against the rights of millions of Americans to vote and have their votes counted.’ 

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital the release of the ‘falsehood-ridden, unconstitutional J6 brief immediately following Tim Walz’s disastrous debate performance is another obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine American Democracy and interfere in this election.’ 

‘Deranged Jack Smith and Washington DC Radical Democrats are hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power,’ Cheung said. ‘President Trump is dominating, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are freaking out.

‘This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.’ 

In the filing, Smith lays out his findings, claiming that people close to Trump had tried to tell him that the claims were all ‘bulls—.’

Smith details conversations between an unnamed Trump personal attorney and the former president. That attorney allegedly told Trump that the campaign was ‘looking into his fraud claims and had even hired external experts to do so, but could find no support for them.’ 

‘He told the defendant that if the Campaign took these claims to court, they would get slaughtered because the claims are all ‘bullsh—,’’ the filing states, with Smith claiming that a lawyer discussed with Trump the investigations and ‘debunkings on all major claims.’ 

Smith also details alleged interactions between Trump and Pence in the days following the election. 

Smith details a Nov. 7, 2020, call between Pence and Trump in which Pence allegedly ‘tried to encourage’ Trump ‘as a friend’ by reminding him that he ‘took a dying political party and gave it a new lease on life.’ 

Smith also details a private lunch between Trump and Pence on Nov. 12, 2020, in which Pence allegedly gave Trump a ‘face-saving option.’ That option, according to the filing, was ‘don’t concede but recognize the process is over.’ 

Smith also detailed another private lunch between Trump and Pence on Nov. 16, 2020, in which Pence allegedly tried to encourage Trump to accept the results of the election and run again in 2024. Trump allegedly said at the time: ‘I don’t know, 2024 is so far off.’ 

Smith details another private lunch between the two in which Pence allegedly ‘encouraged’ Trump ‘not to look at the election as a loss — just an intermission.’

Smith wrote that, after that lunch, Trump allegedly asked Pence in the Oval Office, ‘What do you think we should do?’ 

Pence allegedly said, ‘After we have exhausted every legal process in the courts and Congress, if we still came up short, [the defendant] should ‘take a bow.’’

Meanwhile, Smith claims a White House staffer traveling with Trump overheard him tell his family members that ‘it doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.’ 

Smith claims Trump ‘was on notice that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud in Arizona within a week of the election’ and claimed Trump also ‘had early notice that his claims of election fraud in Georgia were false.’ 

Smith claims that ‘none of the allegations or evidence is protected by presidential immunity,’ arguing that Trump’s ‘scheme was a private one.’ 

‘He extensively used private actors and his campaign infrastructure to attempt to overturn the election results and operated in a private capacity as a candidate for office,’ Smith claimed. ‘To the limited extent that the superseding indictment and proffered evidence reflect official conduct, however, the Government can rebut the presumption of immunity because relying on that conduct in this prosecution will not pose a danger of intrusion on the authority or functions of the Executive Branch.’ 

Last month, Chutkan said she would not hold the trial for Trump on charges stemming from Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation until after the 2024 presidential election. She set deadlines for replies and paperwork from federal prosecutors and Trump’s legal team for Nov. 7 — after Election Day. 

Fox News’ Bill Mears and David Spunt contributed to this report. 

Former President Trump said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ’embarrassed himself’ during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, while Sen. JD Vance’s steady presentation ‘reconfirmed’ his choice to make the senator from Ohio his running mate.

Trump spoke exclusively with Fox News Digital on Wednesday morning, hours after Vance, R-Ohio, and Walz faced off in the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate in New York City. The two sparred on issues like foreign policy, border security, abortion and climate change, while introducing themselves and their records to the American people. 

‘JD was fantastic last night – it just reconfirmed my choice,’ Trump told Fox News Digital. ‘There was a brilliance to what he did.’ 

‘On the other hand, Tim Walz proved to be a man that doesn’t have it in any way shape or form for the office that he is seeking, though I would put him a large number of steps above Kamala,’ Trump said.

The former president and Republican presidential nominee said Walz ’embarrassed himself and the Democrat Party last night but was made to look even worse by JD’s brilliant performance.’ 

‘This is what the country needs; smart people, not people that can’t put two sentences together,’ Trump said. ‘We have to take our country back.’ 

Vice presidential debates are traditionally seen as second-tier, but with Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris unlikely to debate again before voters cast their ballots on Nov. 5, the stakes were raised for their running mates as they attempted to tackle the most important issues facing the nation. 

CBS News anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan moderated the debate in New York City Tuesday night, which was filled with more substantive policy discussion than personal jabs. Tuesday began with nearly 50,000 unionized dockworkers going on strike from Maine to Texas and ended with Iran launching its largest attack on Israel in history, firing nearly 250 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state. 

The first question for Walz and Vance was whether they would support a preemptive strike by Israel on Iran. 

A visibly shaky Walz had a rough start to the debate, pausing and stumbling over his words as he spoke about the need for ‘steady leadership’ from the White House. Instead of answering the question, Walz took a shot at Trump. 

‘What’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter,’ Walz said, pointing to Trump’s debate performance against Harris last month. ‘It’s clear, 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.’ 

But Vance, in his first answer, defended Trump, saying he ‘delivered stability to the world, and he did it by establishing effective deterrence.’ 

‘People were afraid of stepping out of line,’ Vance said. ‘Donald Trump recognized that for people to fear the United States, you needed peace through strength. They needed to recognize that if they got out of line, the United States’ global leadership would put stability and peace back in the world.’ 

As for a preemptive strike, Vance said, ‘It is up to Israel what they think they need to do to keep their country safe. And we should support our allies wherever they are, when they’re fighting the bad guys.’

Walz fired back. He slammed the Trump administration for pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, saying Iran is ‘closer to a nuclear weapon than they were before because of Donald Trump’s fickle leadership,’ adding Harris is providing ‘steady leadership.’ 

‘You blame Donald Trump, but who has been the vice president for the last 3½ years? And the answer is, your running mate, not mine,’ Vance said. 

Vance, again defending Trump, saying he ‘consistently made the world more secure.’ 

‘Gov. Walz can criticize Donald Trump’s tweets, but effective, smart diplomacy and peace through strength is how you bring stability back to a very broken world,’ Vance said. ‘Donald Trump has already done it once before.’ 

Vance also urged voters to ask themselves, ‘When was the last time that an American president didn’t have a major conflict break out?’ 

‘The only answer is during the four years that Donald Trump was president,’ Vance said. 

The debate shifted to the ongoing crisis at the southern border, a top issue for voters. 

Vance said he has already been to the border more than ‘border czar’ Kamala Harris, while touting Trump’s plan to secure the border. 

But Walz blasted Trump for his alleged efforts to get Republicans to vote against a border bill. 

‘As soon as it was getting ready to pass and actually tackle this, Donald Trump said no, told [lawmakers] to vote against it, because it gives him a campaign issue,’ Walz said. ‘What would Donald Trump talk about if we actually did some of these things?’

On the same topic, moderators asked Vance whether he and Trump would support family separation as part of Trump’s proposed ‘mass deportation’ should he be elected. 

‘We have 320,000 children that the Department of Homeland Security has effectively lost,’ Vance explained. ‘Some of them have been sex trafficking. Some of them, hopefully, are at homes with their families.

‘Some of them have been used as drug trafficking mules. The real family separation policy in this country is, unfortunately, Kamala Harris’ wide open southern border. And I’d ask my fellow Americans to remember when she came into office, she said she was going to do this. Real leadership would be saying, ‘You know what, I screwed up. We’re going to go back to Donald Trump’s border policies.’ I wish that she would do that. It would be good for all of us.’ 

As for the issue of abortion, another top issue for voters this cycle, Walz maintained that he and Harris are pro-choice, while Vance said Republicans need to ‘do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue, where they, frankly, just don’t trust us.’ 

‘And I think that’s one of the things that Donald Trump and I are endeavoring to do. I want us, as a Republican Party, to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word. I want us to support fertility treatments. I want us to make it easier for moms to afford to have babies,’ Vance said. ‘I want to make it easier for young families to afford a home so they can afford a place to raise that family. And I think there’s so much that we can do on the public policy front just to give women more options right now.’

A focus group of Democrats, independents and Republicans reacted to the moment when Gov. Tim Walz called himself a ‘knucklehead’ for claiming to have been in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Moderators confronted Walz on the claim during the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate Tuesday night. Walz admitted that he only traveled to Asia in August 1989, several months after the April 15 massacre. The focus group found that voters were initially skeptical of Walz’s answer, but he eventually recovered.

‘Can you explain that discrepancy?’ a moderator asked, as the focus group remained neutral.

‘Look, I grew up in small rural Nebraska, a town of 400. A town that you rode your bikes with your buddies until the streetlights come on, and I’m proud of that service. I joined the national guard at 17, worked on family farms, and then I used the GI bill to become a teacher. Passionate about it. Young teacher. My first year out, I got the opportunity in the summer of ’89 to travel to China–35 years ago, to be able to do that,’ Walz said.

‘I came back home and started a program to take young people there. We would take basketball teams, we would take baseball teams, we would take dancers, and we would go back and forth to China,’ he added.

The focus group showed support from Republicans, independents and Democrats all going down for Walz during the first portion of his response.

However, Walz recovered among independents and Democrats when he went on to admit that he can be ‘a knucklehead at times.’

‘Many times I will talk a lot. I will get caught up in the rhetoric,’ he said, as support from independents rose above 50% in the focus group.

Walz’s support among Republicans dipped to its lowest point – under 10% – when he said former President Donald Trump would have benefited from participating in one of his China trips, arguing Trump would never have befriended Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was not asked about several highly talked about news stories in the first and only vice presidential debate on Tuesday, including his military service, which Walz did not strongly invoke either. 

The CBS Vice Presidential Debate in New York City showcased the Republican and Democrat candidates answering questions on a variety of issues, but Walz’s military service, which he has faced sharp criticism from Republicans and some veterans for allegedly embellishing, was not asked about.

Walz only briefly mentioned his military service during the debate when he was forced to correct the record on whether he was in China for the Tiananmen Square protests.

At another point in the debate, Walz referred to himself as a ‘good soldier.’

Walz was also not asked during the debate about how many times he has visited China.

In the past, Walz has claimed he went ‘dozens of times’ and once claimed he went ‘about 30 times.’ This week, the Harris-Walz campaign walked that back and said the actual number is ‘closer to 15 times.’

Other questions Walz was not asked during the debate include his disputed claims about his wife’s IVF treatment and his claim that he carried weapons ‘in war.’

Despite CBS announcing that it would not allow live fact-checking during the debate, moderator Margaret Brennan interjected to correct Vance after he suggested that illegal immigrants are overwhelming resources in Springfield, Ohio.

‘Just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio, does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status,’ Brennan said.

When Vance tried to push back on the fact-check, Brennan and her co-moderator Norah O’Donnell attempted to speak over Vance, insisting that they had to move on to the next question.

‘The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check,’ Vance reminded them. ‘And since you are fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on.’

While explaining the process of obtaining legal status and tying it to a Harris-backed immigration policy, the moderators again spoke over Vance, thanking him for ‘describing the legal process’ before they cut off his microphone as Walz attempted to argue with him.

Democrats quickly came out in support of Walz’s debate performance as it was unfolding, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who said Walz was ‘laying down facts.’

‘Gov Walz dominating JD Vance on the immigration exchange with undecided voters in a western battleground state,’ David Plouffe, campaign manager and White House Senior Advisor for Barack Obama and Senior Advisor for Kamala Harris for President, posted on X. ‘Reminding these voters Donald Trump built only 2 percent of the wall and Mexico didn’t pay a dime strongest moment of the debate.’

Many top Republicans took the opposite position and expressed support for Vance’s performance. 

‘JD knocks it out of the park with first question!!! Tim Walz implodes on first question in presentation, communication, and substance,’ Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., wrote on X. 

‘Senator JD Vance spitting the cold hard TRUTH on the debate stage,’ Trump 2024 national press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X. 

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz faced backlash on social media after he defended an individual healthcare mandate during a back and forth with his counterpart, Republican Sen. JD Vance, in their first and only debate on Tuesday night. 

‘The question about this of young people, whatever, that’s the individual mandate,’ Walz said during a conversation on healthcare and the Affordable Care Act at the CBS News debate in New York City. ‘And Republicans fought tooth and nail saying Americans should be free to do this.’

Vance then interjected, asking, ‘Tim do you think the individual mandate is a good idea?’

‘I think the idea of making sure the risk pool is broad enough to cover everyone — that’s the only way insurance works. When it doesn’t, it collapses. You are asking pre- ACA where we get people out. Look, people know that they need to be on health care. People expect it to be there.’

Walz went on to say that the ACA ‘works’ but we can ‘continue to do better.’

Walz’s comments defending the individual mandate drew criticism on social media, with people pointing out that it was repealed during the Trump administration.

‘We eliminated an especially cruel tax that fell mostly on Americans making less than $50,000 a year — forcing them to pay tremendous penalties simply because they could not afford government-ordered health plans,’ Trump told an audience during the 2018 State of the Union Address.

‘We repealed the core of disastrous ObamaCare — the individual mandate is now gone,’ he added.

‘Tim Walz just endorsed reinstating the Obamacare mandate which was a massive tax penalty for Americans who can’t afford to buy insurance,’ GOP Sen. Tom Cotton posted on X. 

‘Oh my god, Walz defending the individual mandate,’ journalist Josh Barro posted on X. ‘Does he know there isn’t one anymore?’

‘Tim Walz doubles down on his support for Obamacare’s individual mandate tax, by far the least popular part of Obamacare,’ Americans for Tax Reform Director Mike Palicz posted on X.

‘This would violate Kamala’s pledge not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400K. Trump Tax Cuts repealed the hated individual mandate tax.’

During the debate, Vance argued, ‘Donald Trump has said that if we allow states to experiment a little bit on how to cover both the chronically ill, but the non-chronically ill, it’s not just a plan. He actually implemented some of these regulations when he was president of the United States. And I think you can make a really good argument that it salvaged ObamaCare, which was doing disastrously until Donald Trump came along.’

Fox News Digital reported Monday that Walz has previously voiced his support for single-payer government-run healthcare.

‘I think that’s probably the path where we end up,’ Walz said in a 2018 debate while running for governor when asked, ‘Are you for single-payer?’

‘And I say that because, be very clear about this, there were no protections for preexisting conditions before the ACA,’ Walz continued. ‘A vote for the ACA was the first time in this nation’s history we had those protections and making sure people have that protection, making sure they were covered, and then making sure we were focused on preventative care, people were finally getting that under the ACA, we started to see health outcomes improve and that’s the real key to driving down insurance premium prices.’

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., met face to face on Tuesday night in New York City for the only vice presidential debate before the election. 

The event covered a variety of subjects ranging from immigration to climate change to abortion as the two lesser known politicians sought to make their introductions to American voters before election day. 

Here are the top moments from the debate: 

1. JD Vance fact-checks CBS News moderators

After CBS News’ Margaret Brennan offered an impromptu fact-check in response to Vance describing cities being overwhelmed by illegal immigration, noting that many Haitians in Springfield, Ohio have been granted a legal status, Vance hit back at her for violating the terms of the debate. 

‘Margaret, the rules were that you are not going to fact-check. And since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on,’ he said. ‘So there’s an application called the CBP one app where you can go on as an illegal migrant, apply for asylum or apply for parole and be granted legal status at the wave of a Kamala Harris open border wand.’

2. In show of compassion, Vance tells Walz he is sorry that his son witnessed a shooting

Vance told Walz that he was sorry to hear that his son had been witness to a shooting, in a moment of civility that was particularly frequent during the vice presidential debate. This civility has also been less and less common during presidential debates, which have proven contentious in recent election cycles. 

‘I didn’t know that your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting, and I’m sorry about that,’ the senator told Walz. 

‘I appreciate it,’ Walz said. 

‘Christ have mercy,’ Vance remarked. 

3. Vance says he thinks Walz wants to solve border crisis—but Kamala Harris doesn’t

‘The American citizens have had their lives destroyed by Kamala Harris’s open border. It is a disgrace, Tim,’ Vance said during the debate.

‘And I actually think I agree with you,’ the Ohio senator said, adding, ‘I think you want to solve this problem.’

‘But I don’t think that Kamala Harris does.’ 

4. Walz claims there will be pregnancy registry in Trump-Vance administration but Vance pushes back 

Walz claimed there would be ‘a registry of pregnancies’ under what he said was Trump and Vance’s Project 2025. The Project 2025 is an endeavor of conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation.

‘It’s going to make it more difficult, if not impossible, to get contraception and limit access, if not eliminate access, to infertility treatments,’ he said. 

But Vance denied this claim. ‘No, certainly we won’t,’ he pushed back at the statement. 

5. Walz refers to his frequent note-taking, which was mocked by Trump

Walz referred back to his notes in one answer on Tuesday night, after frequently scribbling down observations during the debate. 

‘I made a note of this,’ he said. 

‘Economists can’t be trusted. Science can’t be trusted. National security folks can’t be trusted,’ he listed, referencing Vance’s skepticism of those heralded as experts. ‘Look, if you’re going to be president, you don’t have all the answers. Donald Trump believes he does.’

Even Trump poked fun at the noticeable amount of notes that the Minnesota governor was taking, writing on Truth Social, ‘Walz is taking so many notes – Never seen a Candidate take more! He needs the notes to keep his brain intact.’