Vice Presidential Debate Megapost! Tue, 10/1/2024

Ha, fuck you. My life was destroyed by disability, and the only drug that was helping me went from $250 a month to $3000 a month between 2015 to 2017. Everything got worse, to the point I can’t even afford to live.

This especially pisses me off.

Fuck you Vance and fuck everything you just said. It’s all lies.

Walz: "Well I don't run Facebook and Trump lost."

I will say that I worry about Vance as a candidate when he’s no longer directly tied to Trump and his madness. He’s the face of non-truth leading to fascism.

"Under Kamala Harris' leadership."

I wish Walz would say that JOE BIDEN IS THE FUCKING PRESIDENT.

"Did he lose the 2020 election?"

"OH YEAH?!?! Well did Kamala Harris censor people?"

vance won't answer if trump lost the 2020 election. oh its the lauph into cry now. man he is so weasily.

It's crazy how... like. Normal? This debate is. I mean they obviously disagree on stuff, but there's at least a baseline of respect here so far.

"Should we force catholic hospitals to do abortions?"

No. Because there shouldn't be catholic hospitals.

"She hasn't accomplished what she set out to do in three years" is kind of weird for the running mate of the guy who accomplished fuck all in terms of his campaign promises for four.

Vance lies like he breathes, but he isn’t mentally addled like Trump. He’s a threat. A long term threat.

Listening to these idiotic "uncommitted voters" in the focus group are the absolute worse. It's a collection of people that love the attention of being an indecisive moron.

Vance after the Debate

Attacking Walz on his military record while Vance had a mostly clerical job, never saw combat, was of a lower rank and was in the military for 4 years compared to 24 years? Bold move...

To Vance's credit, he's doing a monumental amount of damage control and sanewashing for Donald Trump and is doing a decent job at it. Yes Vance is lying through his teeth with each answer but he is markedly better at keeping his cool compared to the former Narcissist-in-Chief against VP Harris. It's a position Walz wouldn't envy. So overall I think this is within the best range of events Vance could expect.

They both did well at acknowledging each other and keeping this like a somewhat normal debate, can you imagine. That said, if any viewer can hold a thought without focusing solely on whatever deflection each candidate is doing, Walz is giving better answers, and Vance is putting way more false equivalencies in.

Walz is doing very well with his answers, he's not as calculated and rehearsed as Harris, and you know having a heart makes you mess up more than the recently changed telephone options menu, but he is doing a fantastically better job at connecting with voters than Vance did. Walz's jabs are quick and easily missed ("Wharton") but even with apolitical people, if they understand Walz's language then they'll get when he is jabbing at Vance.

Obviously I was hoping Vance would fold up into a chair and was disappointed for that to not happen. More than that though is that I'm crossing my fingers the news cycle doesn't begin pretending it's a normal election cycle just because the VP candidates could actually look each other in the eye for a night. Idk, give it 48hours and Trump will be starved enough of attention to break the spell and make people glare at him again in disgust.

Walz should have just called it out right there: your running mate is a reality denying narcissist, and you're his lapdog. You won't say he lost because you're scared daddy will yell at you if you do.

Walz drove it home on the threat to democracy, and Vance had nothing to respond.

It just occurred to be that Vance is running for president not VP. I don't think he thinks Trump will get through his term if elected.

Vance: I did wanna answer your question, because you did ask it...

Narrator: He did not answer her question.

Vance digging deep into the reddit school of debate. ‘Explain to me how my lie is untrue please. I’ll derail all other talk until then.’

A little more than an hour in...

Vance has been exactly as polished as expected, other than a slightly rough start coming off as robotic. He's managed a few genuinely human-seeming moments, too, especially upon learning that one of Walz's kids witnessed a shooting. But he's been lying nearly constantly.

Walz isn't as polished, but he's been doing much better in that department than I would have expected, while still coming off as very nice and genuine. He's had a couple of flubs, but none of them were debate killers, while he's gotten in far more actual hits than Vance, by far. Like, it's not even close.

There's another thing: Vance is legitimately boring to listen to. I didn't realize this before, but his voice could be used as a sleep aid.

I'm biased. I'll own that. So take from this what you will: I think Walz is winning. It's close, but I think he's coming off as more honest and more real, while Vance is coming off as dishonest and plastic.

Vance literally said nothing about Trump's healthcare plan. They still have nothing.

“Why won’t you rebut my lies?”

“They aren’t true”

“Ok but like why won’t you explain how?”

“We have well developed views on public policy so we don’t have to prepare that much,” Vance said in a Teamsters press call on Wednesday morning. “We feel a lot more confident and frankly, you don’t have to prepare if you don’t have to hide what you say.”

-Jd "we make stuff up" Vance

😂🤣😂🤣

Who is banning books right now JD?!?

LOL! "Thank you, senator, for describing the legal process."

Vance: "Women don't trust us because we are against abortion. We'll make them trust us by making fertility treatments more accessible."

What?

The housing shortage is caused by illegal immigrants and not drilling for oil? I have no words.

lol Vance did not want to answer that elector question.

The pregnant pause from the moderator followed by her mystified question made me laugh out loud.

What a crazy attack from Vance, why isn't the Vice President fixing the housing crisis? Wasn't Trump President and didn't fix real issues with in his purview.

Finally Waltz telling him the VP isn't responsible, Congress is. I think he's slipped that in a couple times now.

I'll be asleep which I suppose I should be thankful for (I've already voted by mail as an overseas voter). I'm still disappointed about the whole fact-check thing.

I did it. I opened a private tab and checked Truth Social. Trump is obsessed with Walz misspeaking on school shooters. He also screamed in all caps that he would veto a national abortion ban. Also his usual weird fixation with the moderators’ ratings in other shows, and still asserting that anyone who said he lost in 2020 is lying.

Vance: "The white guys shooting up schools with legally purchased guns are the fault of immigrants."

"from AOC to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift."

Taylor Swift confirmed more right-wing than Cheney!1!

“NRA used to teach gun safety” is a great line for purple states.

No, you dick. Walz was right and everything you said wasn’t true. Everything got worse under trump, and I have fucking receipts.

Wait there’s more? I am going to bed.

"Do you want to support Catholic hospitals to perform abortions against their will?" FUCKING YES.

I'm enjoying the fact that CBS brought receipts about Vance's past statements about Donald Trump.

Vance is trying really hard to convince people they're getting paid better than they did before Trump.

Damn I was a bit worried that we weren't going to get the decisive soundbite, but all anyone is going to talk about tomorrow is going to be the "did Donald Trump lose?" mic drop. Absolutely savage.

Mics got cut. Nice.

Electric bills are what he thinks Americans are worried about right now? Really?

"Our number one export cannot be topsoil" - Walz

That is a hell of a good line.

Guns are flowing into the United States from Mexico?

Wat??!

Vance: “Our policies aren’t our policies. We actually support your favored policies. You’re not allowed to fact check me. I’ll go back to our real policies tomorrow.”

I’m a knucklehead at times.

Girl, same.

Guns go from the US to Mexico, not the other way. Another blatant lie.

Maybe let’s fund national health care!

"I don't really want to talk about the 2020 election, so Google sucks and also Tulsi Gabbard and RFK, Jr. likes me."

walz is getting so annoyed at vance bald face laws. vance trying to distort walzs own law. man walz is doing a good job of restraining himself though.

How is it Kamala Harris's policies!? She's not the president! How much power does Vance think the Vice President wields!?

Vance just appears like a slick televangelist. Smarmy.

Walz is knocking it out of the park on guns.

Housing too expensive? DRILL BABY DRILL!!

Kind of interesting that the "get under his skin" thing is kind being deployed against Walz a bit here. He's not Trump, so he's not flying off the handle, but he's losing his cool occasionally. I actually think that could work in his favor if he can channel it effectively. I think an angry Walz, within reason, could be really effective to counter robo-vance.

Jd vance: the biggest threat to democracy is censorship

Fucking wild take

FYI, parody accounts are firing up, don't get suckered:

Jack Kimble is a parody account.

https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1841151195198435344

California doesn't have a 54th district:

https://www.jackkimble.com/home

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California's_congressional_districts

Morning after thoughts:

• Walz is not actually a bad debater. He's not polished and practiced, but his command of policy and numbers means he still comes across as fairly confident. He knows what he knows, and that can stand in for polish.
• Vance didn't do badly, but I genuinely can't remember any of his answers, and that's kind of weird. I think it's because he answered like he'd been raised by a generative AI instead of human parents. Seriously, can anyone actually remember anything he said, without looking it up?
• Walz had more flubs. But he also got in a lot more hits. It remains to be seen which will stick in the minds of voters more, if either.
• The lack of Trump on the stage made this one a lot more mature. It's amazing what a difference it makes when one of the debaters isn't a demented man-baby.

The way I see it, Walz's clearly superior command of policy details, and the way that fact-checkers are counting nearly everything Vance said as a lie, gives Walz the technical win, while Vance gets the nod for being more polished. In the end, I don't think this debate will matter much to the election.

Those with an interest in history might remember that back during the 1988 election, Lloyd Bentsen absolutely demolished Dan Quayle, George H.W. Bush's pick for VP, in a debate. But it was forgotten in a matter of days - if not hours - and Bush went on to win handily.

I think this debate will likely be forgotten soon, too.

"You say trust the experts, but experts are wrong sometimes and Trump thinks with his gut brain and also I have kids." -- Vance

Fuck that "I've become friends with school shooters" misspeak is gonna be clipped to hell isn't it

I feel like Walz's answer re: The ACA is his best response so far.

"Were not going to fix this listening to experts, we need to listen to common sense." - Running mate of the old man yelling about immigrants eating pets.

Oh nice! Walz mentioned Wall Street speculators driving up housing prices. Then he literally quoted the Bible.

LOL! "All Trump has said is that he wants to debate whether or not he won the 2020 election." Sure, JD. Sure.

Many women who want families or already have families are devastated by your draconian ‘care’.

How are you wrong? In every single way, Vance. Just like on nearly everything, you have no empathy and can only see black and white when the world is many shades of grey.

Did you know that JD Vance has "three beautiful kids?" Because he's told us three times. I'm wondering if he knows their names.

Take a shot every time Walz says something reasonable and Vance give the camera that “are you buying this shit” grin.

Fuck you, you don’t know difficult.

I don’t know how much more of Vance’s bullshit I can listen to. And especially his church bullshit. We’re not all young girls (my son is 27) wanting to be livestock in a church community. Some of us are atheists. But I guess I should just go die because I’m not useful anymore.

Does anyone think this "she's the vice president, so why didn't she implement these policies" thing convinces anyone?

you want to help people to afford babies vance. how about funding education nationally with three meals provided each day. oh and maybe healthcare. that would help.

I’m beginning to think he doesn’t even have a family… he brings them up at the weirdest times.

ok im getting some chuckles now. vance. "pamela harris as the sitting vice president". well there is a phrase you never hear because the vice president as an advisory role and to continue the polocies if they take over so its not to disruptive. my lucifer he is an idiot (yes I already knew)

“Where is the firewall?!?” Well put, Walz. Well put.

Vance: Smoke and mirrors, we want to do better.... but we won't.

Phew. This debate does not have enough pee breaks.

vance keeps going with that bs that obamacare was not working till trump fixed it. it was doing great till they kicked out the leg. they do need ot not allow companies to own more than one leg of healthcare though (looking at you cvs)

Immigrants making almost nothing and sending everything they make (after taxes) back home and living with 10 people in a small apartment are the problem? Not Blackrock and corporate landlords buying everything on the market?

Vance: "We can't tell you what the concepts of the healthcare plan are because it's boring."

This has been such a tame debate that the argument my neighbors are having about one of them masturbating to much distracted me.

oh he is ducking the will he certify results as a vice president. ok so I got two good laughs.

Vance won't answer the question about the 2020 election fraud by trump

No kids here, but I have many nieces and nephews, and it makes me so depressed to think of a school run like a police state.

vance is hilarious suggesting you get rid of the workers by deporting them. Obama showed you have to go after the employers which actually works.

Thank god, they actually muted!

one thing I love is walz matter of fact way with things. some people villify regulation but you want to be able to have time to get out of your house if theres a fire. I love hearing a debate with quotes like that. point out the dumb.

Will the fly be there to fact-check?

I was unaware that the vice president directly controls food prices.

Vance, that's Congresses job not the vice presidents

did vance just say he thought the american people don't know much about him or waltz???

Senator Vance, are you a traitor?

Forget everything I said before. I have a new answer now. I will go back to my old answer the second I step off of this stage. You aren’t allowed to fact check me.

Solar panels from China make “dirty” clean energy, while American fossil fuels create “clean” dirty energy.

"I've been consistent" says JD.

Consistently lying.

I love the way vance/trump likes to take credit for the economy they inherited and then blew up just as they left. if, satan forbid, trump got in again any successes will be on the coattails of biden. my devil it still drives me nuts what he did with interest rates which is a dead simple thing for a president to do, which is not to pressure or interfere with the fed.

Moderator: "How long should companies pay for family medical leave?"

Walz: "That's negotiable."

Vance: "What if their church wants to pay them for childcare?!"

Random thought: I wonder if that 23-and-me data gets bought up by the healthcare industry when they go under. 🤔 I wonder what they will do with it when they can know if predisposed to heart disease…

Stronger locks!!

Good lord, what a moron.

Oh yeah, tariffs. Please, increase inflation for all of us who can’t even afford shit now.

And your orange god sources his shitty Wish watches from China, what are you talking about?!?

Sorry... what? Houses are expensive because of diesel fuel prices?

Remember that Walz by his own admission is "bad at debates" and that Vance is (an admittedly insane) Yale law school graduate. Walz has done few difficult interviews, almost every mainstream interview Vance has done has been difficult because he has to defend Trump. I just think it's important to have realistic expectations.

I'm honestly not sure what to expect, but I imagine Vance will seem like a more polished politician and debater. He is awkward and supports ugly things, but he doesn't seem to get goaded easily. If Walz can summon his "everydad" persona effectively to make it appear like there's a normal candidate and weird candidate up there and use his knack for a folksy phrase or comeback, that will probably be the "takeaway."

Due to the format, these debates have kind of turned into tiktok video farming events, so let's see who gets the most meme-able sound bytes. Let the games begin.

How will we handle child care at a federal level?

Vance: Long stream of bullshit, followed by “give federal money to churches.” Tax credit? Paid leave? Fuck you.

Vance: "Build the wall."

Yeah, no... I don't think you understand how big the southern border is or what terrain it's on, pal.

Pikachu face

Pass the bill!

This is probably the best moment of this debate.

There’s the attack on intelligence by dismissing PhDs by basically calling them stupid and replacing intelligence with “common sense”, feels before reals.

The “experts” said shipping jobs overseas would save Americans money?

That wasn’t experts, that was business lobbyists and CEOs who wanted higher profits.

Walz just dropped the pet eating bomb back on JDs head.

PBS pundits are complaining that they were too nice to each other and agreed with each other too much. Sigh.

Yup. Keep going Walz, attack Trump over and over. That's all you need to do.

Vance trying hard to pull off Kamala’s faces from the last debate and only looking constipated.

walz is owning this one. he is doing great and vance goes between evading and just lying. Hes better and more consistent with his lies which makes this no where near as entertaining as the presidential debate.

We'll have tremendous healthcare, and I'll make China pay for it!

Okay, guys. I get it. You're both way into Jesus.

Call ing out Vance’s disdain for trump, good

I can’t watch anymore. Vance is riling me up too much and I’m not seeing enough pushback.

Cheers all, it’s been … interesting.

Well, what about Facebook though? What about censorship? What about that baby hippo on Tiktok? What about Flintstones vitamins?

Vance is now pro-abortion exceptions? Are you kidding me?

Edit: typo

First question is about the Middle East and Iran's attack on Israel. Walz is talking about how we need steady leadership for dealing with that, contrasting it with Trump.

Started a little stumbly, but already seems to be finding his footing.

vance. those economic experts have PhD's but they don't have common sense.

Here we go. Yes, women’s rights.

I really hope Walz hammers Vance on women’s rights and LGBTQ issues. Just make that the focus of the whole thing, because those are the issues that will win in the margins of historically nonvoters. I really hope this campaign can finally understand why many voters are disenfranchised, and start finally enfranchising them.

Vast swathes of voters are unaffiliated because nobody cares about them. I know the dem candidates are capable of caring, but they need to show it.

here we go. hold onto your buts.

Moderator: "How do you stop gun violence?"

Vance: "Stronger windows in schools!"

We're ~25 minutes in, and so far I would say this debate is close, but Walz is edging out Vance. He's not as polished, but he's coming across as more genuine, and he's directly answering.

Walz nailed the immigration question. Vance is making up lies and using buzzwords.

The borders aren’t open, you numpty twat. Just keep lying.

Excellent answer. Humanizing the issue, giving practical information, and raising project 2025.

woohoo. vance. lets just say its true carbon emissions cause global warming. lets just say.

It’s great that vance keeps heaping responsibility on Harris for events that happened while she was VP, events which were nothing a VP could affect.

Also, the world was “stable” under trump because tens of millions of people were dying from covid and the world was locked down. If trump wants to take responsibility for the covid virus, go for it.

Why always do this crap, where they act like they're not going to let just babble at their leisure and then they just do it anyway.

Waltz really just needed to say "I goofed." And moved on. That was embarrassing.

GOP was setting the bar low for Vance before the debate, and he easily cleared it, so with low expectations, the consensus will be that he was fantastic. Walz was no surprise, he was fine, so I think folks are going to call it a slight Vance win. It won't matter, neither got hit hard enough, it won't move anything.

Do people actually believe the Vice President can single handily pass legislation?

Here we go, reproductive rights.

There it is, "I don't know the details. But let me tell you about my kids again"

Springfield Ohio.

Please bring up cats and dogs. You know you want to. Fucking racist.

I will say, I'm enjoying this debate more than I thought I would, simply because the moderators seem competent and both debaters are behaving like actual adults, even if Vance is a makeup-wearing Yale-bot.

Walz is friends with school shooters? Lol whoops

“Shortage” more like venture capitalism and artificially limiting supply.

It was okay. Walz was the nice dad. Vance was the slimy, mudslinging worm he is, a true politician in every negative sense of the word.

Walz was too nice and charitable towards Vance and gave him credit on certain issues, and Vance didn't return it in kind.

Vance lied through his teeth and wouldn't answer a single goddamn question. Spent most of his time saying how terrible Kamala was and almost none about how Trump would be good for people.

I left thinking it was an okay performance from both, but I suspect people will remember Vance being a greasy little weasel and Walz being a nice dad. Overall, a net positive for Harris/Walz, but only a little.

"You said you wouldn't call me out on my bullshit!" - JD

Dude, you admit to lying about stuff.

They will have the study in 2 weeks. Also, was it done by the evil experts we can’t trust?

woohoo. walz brought up the bill and how its doing the things vance is suggested they are not doing. looking good.

now vance is trying to make it that its the democrats who don't believe in climate change. His argument is ridiculous given the signature ombudsman bill.

"We're the cleanest economy in the entire world." What the fuck does that mean?

Walz pointing out that Trump jokes about big storms creating more beachfront property.