Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance told Daily Caller’s editorial director Vince Coglianese on Monday that he ignored Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the vice presidential debate to highlight how “radical” Vice President Kamala Harris is.
Vance and Walz faced off in their only scheduled vice presidential debate on Oct. 1, with Walz appearing nervous and misspeaking at times. On “The Vince Coglianese Show,” Vance explained that while he could have attacked Walz on various issues during the debate, he believed it was more effective to highlight Harris‘ flaws.
“You kind of hit the nail on the head. I was trying to convince people who weren’t fully aware just how radical and incompetent Harris’ time in government has been. I sorta of went into this thing, ‘Yeah, I could attack Tim Walz over his record, over his misrepresentations, over the tampons in the boys bathrooms or any number of other crazy things that he’s done,” Vance said.
“But I realized most Americans still don’t have a strong view of Kamala Harris, so why not use my opportunity to talk about her record. To criticize the way that she has actually run the administration over the last three and a half years. To criticize her for the open border, for casting the tie breaking vote on trillions of dollars of new spending,” Vance added. “Just really to introduce to the American people why I think Kamala Harris has been so ineffective and why Donald Trump’s time in office was much better when it comes to things like a secure border and rising take home pay.”
Read: ‘Morning Joe’ Says They Were ‘Disappointed’ By Tim Walz’s Debate Performance
Vance continued to state his goal of convincing voters of former President Donald Trump’s appeal over Harris, noting it was the “most effective” use of his time.
“So I kind of just ignored Tim Walz to the extent that he and I — obviously I had to respond to some of the points that he made. There are some issues out there where, actually, I think he is more reasonable than she is,” Vance said. “So I tried to use that to highlight just how radical she was and that was the strategy that I went into it with. I get 90 minutes to talk to about 50 million of my fellow Americans, why don’t I talk to them about why I think Donald Trump would be a good president and Kamala Harris would be a bad one? That’s the most effective way to use that time.”
Read: Trump Campaign Adviser Warns Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Will Be ‘An Absolute Killer’ On Debate Stage
During the debate, Walz made multiple blunders, including claiming he was “friends with school shooters” and melting down when asked about whether he was present in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
A CBS News post-debate poll found 42% of viewers thought Vance won, 41% backed Walz and 17% called it a tie. Additionally, while voters believed Walz did a better job discussing abortion and healthcare, Vance was rated higher on the economy, immigration and Middle East conflicts — key concerns for voters this November, according to CBS News.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
