J.D. Vance wants to focus on the future, he said. His and his party’s past intervened.
For about 90 minutes, Mr. Vance, a proud Republican ambassador to the internet right, seemed determined to thoroughly refute Democratic claims, avoiding most of the detours into the swamps of conservative enthusiasm and leading the debate. Tailored the evening’s message to a large audience. The long-standing suggestion that he was “weird” and out of line.
But as the debate neared its final slot and turned to the 2020 election, Vance had to make a choice. The question is whether Donald J. Trump’s persistent lies about his defeat four years ago can be reexamined. Or you could try something else with the spirit of moving forward.
It seems like it wasn’t a difficult decision for him.
“What President Trump is saying is there was a problem,” Vance said when asked about his past claims that he did not certify the 2020 election. “We should fight and discuss those issues peacefully in the public square. That’s all I said. That’s all Donald Trump said.”
His debate partner, Tim Walz, stared at him unblinkingly, then looked down at the podium.
“Remember, he said on January 6th that demonstrators should protest peacefully, and what happened on January 20th,” Vance said of Trump. Right? Joe Biden is now president. Donald Trump has left the White House.
The briefing was a concise summary of several details, including the violence, casualties, suspected criminal plot, and the “hang Mike Pence” part of it all.
Mr. Vance took an uncomfortable turn on the topic of censorship. Mr. Waltz looked up at the camera in silence, like a TV character breaking the fourth wall.
“Well, I enjoyed the debate tonight,” Walz began when it was his turn again, assessing what was at times a shaky night for him. He was trying to enjoy it more.
For the occasional polite admirer Tuesday evening, it was a moment when an unshakable truth about this election came into sharp relief. One side still refuses to acknowledge the truth about the last election, the persistent falsehoods that have come to define much of this era. Fragile and out-of-control politics.
“We need to tell the story,” Walz said. “So he lost this election and he said he didn’t lose.”
Mr. Waltz speaks with a feint of how he got here, as if he were going to decorate the Naval Observatory in Carhartt camouflage and not really thinking about other plans. There are many.
At his most effective, he is like a communicative Labrador retriever. Affable, game, and happy just to be there, he tends to tilt his head in histrionic confusion when something sounds unpleasant to him.
On Tuesday, after some contradictory episodes early in the debate, particularly false statements in the past about being close to the Tiananmen protests in his youth, Mr. Walz drew more convincing details from his biography and took a higher profile. raised.
He was a teacher and a football coach, he noted.
“I’ve worked with kids for so long that I’ve learned that sometimes you just really want to win,” he said.
But he continued, Republicans like Trump are already laying the groundwork to contest this election, perhaps even jailing political opponents.
“The president’s words matter,” Walz said, punctuating his words. “The president’s words matter. People hear them.”
Mr. Vance had heard enough.
“It’s really enriching that Democratic leaders are saying that Donald Trump, who peacefully handed over power on January 20th, is the only threat to our democracy,” he said, pumping air with his hand. He spoke while tearing it apart.
He moved to equate Democrats’ past complaints about election results with their 2020 response, including invoking Russian interference in 2016 through Facebook ads and other means.
“Jean. 6 wasn’t a Facebook ad,” Waltz retorted, and Vance smiled slightly.
Mr. Waltz asked his partner a question.
Mr. Walz said of Mr. Trump, “He continues to say he didn’t lose the election,” and turned to Mr. Vance in a grand manner. “Did he lose the 2020 election?”
“Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance replied. He veered into talking points about Covid and censorship.
“That’s not an answer at all,” Walz said.
He added that there was a reason why Pence was no longer on stage as Trump’s running mate.
And he said it’s worth asking what that can tell viewers about Mr. Vance.
“I think you have a really clear choice, Americans,” Walz said, his eyes widening. “Who respects democracy? Who respects Donald Trump?”
