Media and Republicans say JD Vance skillfully articulated Trump campaign agenda during vice presidential debate

During the vice presidential debate, Senator JD Vance impressed his Republican colleagues and even the mainstream media with the way he skillfully articulated Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign agenda, making it accessible to Americans ordinary.

Republican vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, faced off in their only scheduled debate Tuesday, and many agreed the Ohio senator was the winner . Debate observers also noted how Vance was an effective communicator of Trump’s message to the American people, even better than the former president himself.

The 2024 vice presidential debate alone attracted just 43 million viewers Tuesday night, Nielsen reported Wednesday, fewer than last month’s presidential debate and the 2020 vice presidential debate. In September, 57.5 Millions of people watched the presidential debate between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The first debate between Trump and President Joe Biden in June attracted 51.3 million viewers, according to audience watcher Nielsen.

Tuesday’s audience was also lower than the vice presidential debate four years ago, between Harris and former Vice President Mike Pence, which drew 57.9 million viewers, according to The Los Angeles Times. Among those who watched the debate, at least a majority said Vance was the winner, according to polls.

In the CBS News post-debate poll, 42% said Vance won the debate, compared to 41% who said the same of Walz and 17% who felt the showdown was a tie.

Vance further exceeded CNN audience expectations. Before the debate, 54% expected Walz to fare better, compared to 45% who had higher hopes for Vance. However, after watching, 51% said Vance fared better, while 49% chose Walz. The debate observer samples for the CBS News and CNN polls were skewed toward Democrats.

Pollster Frank Luntz, meanwhile, observed a larger shift in Vance’s favor, noting that his panel went 12-2 for Vance, with only five participants initially leaning toward him and Trump.

Before the debate, only 24% of registered voters said they would watch the debate to help them decide who to vote for, according to a CBS News/YouGov survey. That survey also found that 49 percent of registered voters think Walz is qualified to be president, if necessary, while 44 percent think the same of Vance. However, 51% said Walz was unqualified, and 56% said the same about Vance.

The poll was conducted between September 25 and 27 among 2,011 registered voters with a margin of error of ±2.7 points.

Most of The New York Times The editorial board also felt that Vance won the debate and made Trump’s policies more appealing. “JD Vance was most effective in presenting a version of his party’s platform that could broaden its appeal. He made Trumpism seem polite, calm and coherent,” said Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times. senior editor of the editorial board on economics and business.

“The question is whether voters will credit a performance so radically at odds with the behavior and views of the man he claimed to represent,” he added.

Most of the 13 columnists that The New York Times featured in its debate reaction article thought Vance had outperformed Walz, except for Charles M. Blow who said Walz had won and two others who said he had won. qualified as equality.

New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat also wrote that Vance did a good job of articulating Trump’s position and record.

“The first half of the vice presidential debate was this campaign’s most striking illustration so far of why it made sense for Donald Trump to choose JD Vance as his running mate,” Douthat said. “The Ohio senator delivers one of the best debate performances by a Republican presidential or vice-presidential candidate in recent memory and defends Trump’s record far more effectively than Trump has ever been able to to do it.”

“I think one of the questions raised by this performance so far is why the Harris campaign has essentially kept Walz out of one-on-one interviews while Vance has faced hostile questions from day one of his candidacy,” he added.

“It seems that the governor of Minnesota would have benefited enormously from spending a little more time being heard on the Sunday shows before being sent to fight a Republican vice-presidential candidate, who, whatever his other weaknesses, clearly knows how to debate.”

Former Republican politicians were also impressed by Vance’s delivery of the GOP’s message.

Former Arkansas governor and two-time Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee told TV’s “Just the News, No Noise” on Wednesday that Vance did much better than Walz in clearly and calmly articulating the agenda. Trump campaign.

“You saw the difference between a person who prepared for the debate, knowing what they believed and believing what they knew, and a person who was hiding from the press, hiding from the questions,” Huckabee said , comparing Vance and Walz.

“What we saw last night was JD Vance truly delivering one of the great debate performances I’ve ever seen. His calm, his sense of serenity throughout the process was simply incredible. It was perfect, and exactly what was needed for this post,” he continued.

“Now compare that to Tim Walz, who honestly seemed like he would rather have a colonoscopy than stand on that stage, especially in the opening moments,” Huckabee later added. “And when they tried to get him to understand this whole idea that he was in China during Tiananmen Square, you could see the sweat breaking out.”

The 2016 Republican presidential candidate noted that the difference in debate preparation came down to interaction with the press. “But I think a more important aspect of this situation was that Tim Walz was hiding from the press and not answering questions,” Huckabee said.

“JD answers all the questions asked of him. So here’s what that means on the debate stage: Tim Walz flew in simulators. JD was flying F-13s (sic) in actual formation. It’s a total difference when it comes to getting on that stage – if you’re used to asking questions, if you’re used to being bombarded with stuff, rather than being in a lab and not really running the danger and risk of stealing.

Huckabee also praised Vance for effectively communicating Trump’s campaign message.

“JD Vance articulated Trump’s message better than Donald Trump in the debate with Kamala Harris, because there was extraordinary clarity in his message and in the details of what America First policy looks like, how it affects families. And that’s really what we need to do is ask. Don’t just talk about what I call 35,000 feet, “that’s the principle.” Talk about how this affects the people sitting at the table tonight. JD Vance did it brilliantly,” he said.

Former New York Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin told the “John Solomon Reports” podcast on Wednesday that Vance had performed very well with the American public and explained Trump’s record and vision well.

“The contrast couldn’t be starker: JD Vance, prepared, articulate, great messenger, never forgot where he came from. I had the chance to tell a personal story to those who don’t know him, so they can get to know him better as a nice guy, someone who is certainly looking to broaden the base, to be able to unify and to represent as many people as possible. possible across the country,” Zeldin said.

“He is certainly, in many ways, very much in line with President Trump’s vision for the future, but also very familiar and proud of President Trump’s record in the past, when he spent four years in the House “White progress on economic or border issues, foreign policy, energy policy and much more,” he continued. “So I thought he was fantastic.”