Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), the running mate of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, running mate of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, on Tuesday night faced off for a vice presidential debate, moderated by CBS News’ Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan.
The Middle East was the first topic of discussion in the debate, amid the escalation between Israel and Lebanon and the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier in the day.
The candidates were asked whether they would support a preemptive Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, seeing how it has drastically reduced the time it would take for it to produce a nuclear weapon to one or two weeks.
Walz, who responded first, said, “Let’s keep in mind where this started: October 7. Hamas terrorists massacred over 1,400 Israelis and took prisoners. Israel’s ability to be able to defend itself is absolutely fundamental. Getting its hostages back - fundamental. And ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
Noting how the US and its partners were able to assist Israel in stopping Iran’s latest missile attack, Walz said that showed the importance of leadership.
He then proceeded to attack Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and said, “What’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter. It’s clear, and the world saw it on the debate stage a few weeks ago, a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need at this moment.”
“What we’ve seen out of Vice President Harris is steady leadership,” he argued. “We’ve seen a calmness that is able to be able to draw on the coalitions to bring them together. Understanding that our allies matter…as the Vice President said today, we will protect our forces and our allied forces and there will be consequences.”
Asked the same question, Vance replied, “We have to remember that, as much as Governor Walz just accused Donald Trump of being an agent of chaos, Donald Trump actually delivered stability in the world and he did it by establishing effective deterrence. People were afraid of stepping out of line.”
“Iran, which launched this attack,” continued Vance, “has received over 100 billion dollars in unfrozen assets thanks to the Kamala Harris administration. What do they use that money for? They use it to buy weapons that they’re now launching against our allies, and God forbid, potentially launching them against the United States as well.”
He added, “Donald Trump recognized that for people to fear the United States, you needed peace through strength.”
On a potential Israeli preemptive strike, Vance said, “It is up to Israel, what they think they need to do to keep their country safe, and we should support our allies, wherever they are, when they’re fighting the bad guys.”
Walz then linked Iran’s reduction of the time it will take it to produce a nuclear weapon to Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
“Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than they were before because of Donald Trump’s fickle leadership,” he charged. “Our allies understand that Donald Trump is fickle. He will go to whoever has the most flattery or where it makes sense to him. Steady leadership like you witnessed today, like you witnessed in April - both Iranian attacks were repelled. Our coalition is strong and we need the steady leadership that Kamala Harris is providing.”
Vance turned to Walz and said, “You’re blaming Donald Trump [for Iran being closer to a nuclear weapon] - who has been the Vice President for the last three and a half years? The answer is your running mate, not mine.”
He added, “Donald Trump consistently made the world more secure. The sequence of events that led us to where we are right now, and you cannot ignore October 7…but when did Iran and Hamas and their proxies attack Israel? It was during the administration of Kamala Harris. So Governor Walz can criticize Donald Trump’s tweets, but effective, smart diplomacy and peace through strength is how you bring stability back to a very broken world. Donald Trump has already done it once before.”
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