Tim Walz-JD Vance Vice-Presidential debate updates: High stake US showdown comes to end

"Whether you're rich or poor, you ought to be able to afford a nice meal for your family. That's gotten harder because of Kamala Harris' policies," said JD Vance, adding, "We need change. We need a new direction. We need a president who has already done this once before and did it well.

In his closing remarks, TimWalz said he was "surprised as anybody" at the broad coalition of support that Harris has built, which includes progressives and Republicans. 

"Support of democracy matters," he said. "It matters that you're here. I'm as surprised as anybody of this coalition that Kamala Harris has built, from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift and a whole bunch of folks in between there." 

He said voters "know who Donald Trump is," and that Vance "made it clear he will stand with Donald Trump's agenda." 

"Kamala Harris is bringing us a politics of joy," he said. "She's bringing real solutions for the middle class, and she's centering you at the heart of that."

"Democracy is bigger than winning an election," said Walz, an obvious comment on Trump's continued false claims about how he actually won the 2020 election.

The moderator asked if he and his running mate lose this time, will Donald Trump once again try to overturn the election results like he did in 2020.

Walz evaded answering the question directly and instead said that he and Trump agree that there were problems. 

"Look what President Trump has said is that there were problems in 2020 and my own belief is that we should fight about those issues, debate those issues, peacefully in the public square. And that's all I've said, and that's all that Donald Trump has said," he said.

Walz, in response, said that Trump and Vance were "miles apart" on the issue, and turning to Vance, asked, "Did he lose the 2020 election?" to which the Republican replied, "Tim I'm focused on the future."

Vance attempted to connect gun violence with illegal immigration in the United States.

He said: "The gross majority, close to 90 per cent. And while we're on that topic, we know that thanks to Kamala Harris' open border, we've seen a massive influx in the number of illegal guns run by the Mexican drug cartel."

JD Vance asked about gun rights and his aversion to bans on gun like the AR-15, his stand on punishing parents for shootings by their children.

The Republican says that punishing parents for their children's crimes depends on the case.

JD Vance during the question in reproductive rights says, "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."

Moderator asks Walz about Donald Trump's claim that he supports abortion in the ninth month.

Responding, he says, "This is basic human right."

He points out that "we have seen maternal mortality skyrocket in Texas, outpacing many other countries in the world. This is about health care."

The moderator asks Walz about his claim that he was in Hong Kong for a teaching position in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests that ended in hundreds of protesters killed by the Chinese government.

Responding to the question, the democrat candidate says, he was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protest and that he has previously said that he was there during the summer. He also acknowledged that he misspoke when he said he was in Hong Kong in "May of '89". 

As the two vice presidential candidates bickered over immigration, ignoring the moderators, their microphones were cut.

"Gentlemen, the audience can’t hear you because your mics are out," said the moderator.

JD Vance is asked whether the Trump administration, if Donald Trump wins, will separate migrant parents from their US born children. 

Instead of answering the question with a yes or no, Vance says, that there are already "massive" child separations thanks to Kamala Harris’s "open border". He also accused Harris of having enabled Mexican drug cartels to operate freely and to use children as drug mules.

The next question is on immigration.

When asked if he agreed with Trump's view on climate change as a hoax, Vance did not respond. Instead, he said, "If you really want to make the environment cleaner, you've got to invest in more energy production."

The next debate question focuses on Hurricane Helene and the climate crisis.

When asked what responsibility would the Trump administration have in order to try to reduce the impact of climate change, JD Vance said Hurricane Helene is an "unbelievable, unspeakable human tragedy".

"Our hearts go out to those innocent people, our prayers go out to them, and we want as robust and aggressive as a federal response as we can get to save as many lives as possible," he stated.

On climate change, Vance said, "a lot of people are justifiably worried about all these crazy weather patterns" and that him and his running mate both support "clean air, clean water" and that they want the environment to be "cleaner and safer".

Tim Walz responds by pointing at Trump's consistent denial about the existence of climate change.

He added that under the Biden-Harris administration, we've seen "massive investments—the biggest in global history that we’ve seen."

Walz added that the Inflation Reduction Act has created jobs all across the country and that farmers in his state of Minnesota "know climate change is real" having seen droughts and floods "back to back".

According to Walz, the answer is to "move forward."

JD Vance responds by pointing out that it was not his running mate that was the US vice president for the last four years.

Walz said that Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than they were before because of Donald Trump's leadership and that US allies "understand that Donald Trump is fickle," and that he will go to whoever has the most flattery.

In his rebuttal, JD Vance says Donald Trump "consistently made the world more secure" and that as president he recognised that "you needed peace through strength".

Tim Walz says that a "steady leadership" is fundamental and that Donald Trump "talking about crowd sizes is not what we need in this moment."

He noted that Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, has also said the former president was "the most flawed human being he'd ever met" and that even Trump's former secretaries of defence and his national security advisers "said he should be nowhere near the White House."

The debate began with a first question on the crisis in the Middle East.

Just like the Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump debate, the Tim Walz vs JD Vance debate started with the two candidates shaking hands.

The debate will air on CBS and other channels, such as PBS, NBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, and more. You can also watch the debate online through CBS News’ YouTube channel, CBS News 24/7, Paramount+, C-SPAN, and other streaming platforms.

• Stage Setup: The candidates will stand at identical lecterns—Walz on the left and Vance on the right. They will be provided with a notepad, pen, and water, but no pre-written notes or props are allowed.
• No Opening Statements: While there are no opening remarks, both Vance and Walz will have two minutes each for closing statements.
• Answering Time: Each candidate will have two minutes to answer questions, with one-minute rebuttals and follow-up time at the moderators' discretion.
• Microphones: Both candidates' microphones will remain on by default, though CBS reserves the right to mute them if needed.
• Fact-Checking: It’s up to the candidates to fact-check each other in real time, as the moderators will not intervene in this area.
• No Live Audience: There will be no live audience in the room.
• Questioning: Candidates will not receive questions or topics in advance. Only the moderators can ask questions.
• Commercial Breaks: Candidates cannot interact with campaign staff during breaks.

The debate will be moderated by CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell and Face the Nation's Margaret Brennan.

The much-anticipated debate will last for 90 minutes. It will begin on Tuesday at 9 pm ET (0100 GMT on Oct. 2).

Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance and Democrat vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz will soon go head-to-head in a vice presidential debate. The debate marks the first in-person meeting between the two candidates and is considered a significant moment in their political careers.