US Vice Presidential debate ENDS: Vance and Walz go in-depth on policy while attacking each other

As the vice-presidential candidates delivered closing statements, the Trump campaign issued a statement saying Vance had a "dominant debate victory."

"Senator Vance unequivocally won tonight's debate in dominating fashion. It was the best debate performance from any Vice-Presidential candidate in history," the Trump campaign said in a statement.

The debate is over

"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," he said.

"We need change. We need a new direction. We need a president who has already done this once before and did it well."

"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," Walz said.

At a time when trade tensions with China remain high and tens of thousands of U.S. workers at East Coast ports and Boeing's West Coast aeroplane factories are on strike, Vance defended Trump's economic policy proposals.

He said that the Trump administration would penalize companies for shipping jobs overseas and employing slave labourers. He did not offer details of the proposal but said the action would bring in "a lot of money." He also said the Trump administration will cut taxes for businesses in the United States.

 "We're going to be taking in a lot of money by penalizing companies for shipping jobs overseas and penalizing countries who employ slave labourers and then ship their products back into our country and undercut the wages of American workers," Vance said.

Walz turned to the Bible to support his position on the border - and followed up on social media

He only went full capitals so far when insisting that he 'WOULD NOT SUPPORT A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN."

Walz: "This is basic human right. We have seen maternal mortality skyrocket in Texas, outpacing many other countries in the world. This is about health care."

Vance: "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."

"I'm a knucklehead at times," Walz said, when asked about reports that he had not been in Asia during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, as he claimed while he was in Congress. "I got there that summer and misspoke," he said.

Walz traveled to China multiple times as a teacher, leading groups of high school students, but he was not there as the Tiananmen protests happened, news reports show.

"I've always been open and sometimes, of course, I've disagreed with the president, but I've also been extremely open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump," Vance replied when asked about his previous disparagement of Trump.

Vance was challenged on his previous disparagement of Trump

So far, JD Vance and Tim Walz have largely steered clear of personal attacks on each other and instead have focused their talking points on the presidential candidates Trump or Harris.

At times, they've even appeared cordial and polite.

Strategists have told us it is a good strategy to keep the conversation focused on Trump or Harris, as voters cast their ballots based on the top of the presidential ticket and not on their vice presidential pick.

Vance began his response by mentioning his background and his past roles before saying he would leave for Israel to make the choice of how to respond and support US allies as they see fit. Walz said that Iran was closer to a nuclear weapon than they were before "because of Donald Trump's fickle leadership." 

Vance said: "Look, 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. I think that's the right approach to take with the Israel question."

Trump on Truth Social, out of the gate: “Both young ladies have been extremely biased Anchors!”

Walz, early on, is turning the focus to the top of the ticket, invoking Trump and Harris. Walz is the older of the two candidates on stage Tuesday night, and he has included a crack on Trump’s age in his response to the question, on the Middle East.

VP candidates Walz, Vance take the debate stage