muted microphone, abortion and good behavior

On Tuesday night, JD Vance and Tim Walz launched an attack on their presidential opponents, based on international conflicts, the US economy, immigration rights and abortion.

Despite those heated moments — and at least one muted microphone — it was perhaps the most public debate of the 2024 election campaign. There was also agreement between the two men.

Here are some of the most memorable parts of the first ever scheduled TV show between running mates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Abortion rights, a top issue in the 2024 election, prompted the longest and most heated debate of the night.

In this issue, the Democrats have used it to motivate voters, always placing Trump as a threat to the independence of women because of his role in the nomination of the majority of people to the Supreme Court. The court later overturned Roe v Wade, a decision that had protected abortion rights in the US for decades.

Walz cited the stories of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, two Georgia women whose deaths were linked to abortion restrictions in their state.

Meanwhile, Vance said his opinion on the matter has changed. He previously supported some form of national abortion restrictions, but said his position changed when he saw a majority of Ohio voters support access to abortion.

He also said that his party should have done “much better … in restoring the confidence of the American people in this matter, when frankly they do not trust us”.

Walz had his best moment of the night towards the end when the focus shifted to the chaos of January 6, 2021 and the denial of the election.

In a heated exchange, Vance refused to say that Trump had lost the 2020 election, prompting disbelief from Walz, who called it a “sad no-answer”.

The moderators also brought up Vance’s earlier comments that he would not have certified the results of the 2020 election if he had been vice president at the time.

Vance continued his support for Trump, saying the former president asked protesters on the day of the violence at the Capitol to protest peacefully.

He added that Walz will have good wishes if Democrats win the Nov. 5 election, but said there are valid questions to ask about fraud and security.

Walz said he and his challenger are “miles apart” on the issue of January 6 and the integrity of the election.

Walz and Vance took the stage a few hours after Iran attacked Israel – whose prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed revenge.

The ongoing tensions in the Middle East form the basis of the first question.

Appearing horrified, Walz stumbled as he repeated Harris’ promise to support Israel with steel.

Vance, for his part, reiterated one of Trump’s main talking points: that no new global conflicts have erupted during the former president’s time in office.

No man can say whether they would allow a pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran.

Immigration was a key topic throughout the 90 minutes to the top. Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, often returns to the issue of the southern border with the US and immigration – seen by many voters as a weakness of his opponents.

Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, argued that Trump helped torpedo bipartisan legislation that would have struck the toughest immigration policy in American history.

The conversation became heated when Vance was asked about false claims he made about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Vance and Trump previously shared conspiracy theories that illegal immigrants were eating pets in a small town.

When the CBS News president tried to correct Vance, the Ohio senator talked about the host — who proceeded to mute his microphone.

Just before the debate, Walz’s claim collapsed under scrutiny – that he had been in Hong Kong when the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing took place in 1989.

“I’m a knucklehead sometimes,” Walz said when asked about it Tuesday night.

The governor of Minnesota clarified that he did not speak well, he said that he was influenced by the events because he came to China that summer.

Vance was also asked to respond to past comments, including previous attacks on his running mate, Trump, who he once called “America’s Hitler”.

The Ohio senator said he, like many people, has made mistakes in the past. “I was wrong about Donald Trump,” he said.

The tone was a stark contrast to Kamala Harris’ first meeting with Donald Trump last month, where insults and interruptions were common.

Starting the night with a handshake, both Vance and Walz continued to speak politely and respectfully. The two even smiled from time to time, occasionally agreeing with what their opponent was saying.

They directed fire at the top of the ticket, however – Vance targeting Harris and Walz at Trump.