Post-debate polls show Vance narrowly ousting Walz as debate winner | US elections 2024

Tuesday night's highly anticipated debate between vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz drew mixed reactions across the board over who emerged victorious and whether that will impact the 2024 race.

During the 90-minute debate hosted by CBS, the Ohio senator and the Minnesota governor discussed how to address the issues of health care, child care, gun control, immigration, the economy, climate crisis, reproductive rights, housing, etc Conflict in the Middle East.

CBS News conducted a poll of registered voters after the debate and found that 42% of debate watchers surveyed said Vance won the debate, while 41% thought Walz emerged victorious, and about 17% described the debate as draw.

A majority of viewers surveyed also said both candidates sounded “sensible” rather than “extreme” on Tuesday night.

According to CBS, Walz was seen as better at talking about health care and abortion, while Vance was seen as stronger on immigration, according to CBS. Voters also said that Vance spent more time attacking Kamala Harris than explaining his own positions and positions, while Walz spent more time explaining his own views.

Another poll conducted by CNN found that 51% of viewers surveyed said Vance did a better job, as opposed to 49% of viewers who said Walz did a better job. That poll found Walz more in tune with voters' needs and vision for the country, even as Vance increased his standing among the debate audience and exceeded expectations.

A Politico poll Tuesday night showed Walz with a significant advantage over independents, 58% of whom sided with the Minnesota governor. According to the poll, Walz received the highest rating from young people, particularly 25- and 34-year-olds, college-educated people, and Black and Latino voters. Vance performed best among people over 55, white voters and those without a college degree.

After the debate, both presidential candidates issued statements arguing that their vice presidential candidate had won.

The Harris campaign said Walz “showed exactly why Vice President Harris chose him,” adding that he was a “leader who cares about the issues that matter most to the American people.”

“Americans saw a real contrast: a clear speaker focused on sharing real solutions and a glib politician who spent the night defending Donald Trump's divisiveness and failures,” it said Explanation continues.

In a statement to the contrary, the Trump campaign described Vance's performance as “dominant” and called the debate a “victory.”

“Senator Vance clearly and dominantly won the debate tonight. “It was the best debate performance of any vice presidential candidate in history,” the Trump campaign said. “Senator Vance told the truth, eloquently made the case against Kamala Harris' failed record, and effectively held Gov. Tim Walz accountable for his lies on behalf of the Harris-Biden Administration.”

Throughout Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning, politicians, political strategists and others shared their reactions to the highly anticipated debate.

On NewsNation, Mark Kelly, a Democratic senator representing Arizona, said Walz had “done a great job,” adding that he “S“Nudge the American people in a way that they understand.”

Kelly highlighted one of the final moments of the debate in which Vance was unable to answer the question of whether Trump won the 2020 election.

“I'm more concerned about whether we could find ourselves in a situation again where we have a challenge in certifying the election and, you know, what could happen in the following days,” Kelly said.

During the debate, Walz asked Vance if Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance dodged the question and replied, “Tim, I'm focused on the future,” which Walz called a “fucking non-answer.”

On social media, Stuart Stevens, an American author and former Republican strategist who advises the Lincoln Project, a political action committee led by moderate conservatives and former Republican Party members who oppose Trump and MAGA, also pointed out that Vance could not say whether Trump won the 2020 election.

“How humiliating it must be for JD Vance that he cannot admit that there is a legal vote in America or his boss will fire him,” Stevens wrote on X.

Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, told CNN after the debate that Walz was “someone you can trust,” adding that Walz “didn't mess around in the debate and act like I was totally on your side.” . “I'm in it with all my heart and then I support policies that have nothing to do with what you just said.”

“He is what he is, and I think that will come across to the American people. That’s what came across today,” she added.

Pete Buttigieg, the Biden administration's transportation secretary and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, wrote on

“Even in the face of elaborate falsehoods, he reminded us why the future under Kamala Harris’ leadership will be so much better than a return to the chaos of the Trump era,” Buttigieg added.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore praised Walz and criticized Vance, saying that Vance “exemplifies a revisionist history that further endangers our freedoms and democracy as we know it.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer praised Walz for “standing up for American workers” during the debate.

“Michigan remembers what happened under Donald Trump. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost across all sectors, including manufacturing. “The Biden-Harris administration has been critical to bringing jobs back to Michigan,” Whitmer said.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers union, thanked Walz on social media for “denouncing JD Vance's lies about immigrants in Springfield.”

“These lies have led to bomb threats in schools and upended the community,” she said. “It is shameful that Vance is spreading these lies.”

Weingarten also added in a statement that she believed Walz won the debate “by doing what good teachers do: to every question he was asked, he offered practical solutions for a better future.”

But for Jen Psaki, Joe Biden's former press secretary who is now an anchor on MSNBC, Walz spent “a lot of time in the first half or two-thirds” of the debate trying to prove that he had read the briefing materials. but Psaki felt the debate lacked “the magic and organic spontaneity of Tim Walz.”

Asha Rangappa, a legal analyst and former FBI special agent, wrote on X that she believes Walz “missed many opportunities to attack and point out Vance's lies and hypocrisy.”

On Fox News, Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida praised Vance, saying he “pushed the pressure all night and stuck to the policies, Donald Trump's vision, Donald Trump's policies and the reason they work.”

Echoing Donald's, Jason Miller, a senior Trump adviser, described Vance on Tuesday night as an “absolutely dominant performance,” adding, “You can see why President Trump picked him.”

Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also praised Vance on X, saying he was “very proud of JD for his outstanding performance tonight.” Ramaswamy added: “And my condolences to Tim Walz – it was unkind of them to put him in this position.”

As for both candidates' approaches, Wendy J Schiller, a professor of political science at Brown University, told Newsweek that Vance “wanted to seem more presidential and less 'mean,' and has largely achieved that goal” and that Walz “wanted to achieve his goal.” to emphasize appeal to moderates, particularly in the swing states of the Midwest.”

Jennifer N. Victor, an associate professor of political science at George Mason University, also told Newsweek: “Vance won with style and Walz won with substance.”