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And ninety minutes of debate between Senator JD Vance and Governor Timwalls ends Welcome back to Bloomberg TV and radio. Simulcast coverage of this debate on CBS. Of course, over the next last ninety minutes, we saw Mike's hot and facts sometimes checked, although jd Vance was not too happy about that, as they fielded questions on a number of subjects, and Governor Walls described himself as someone who frequently misspeaks. He admitted he mispoke about a trip to China the
timing of that in nineteen eighty nine. He appeared to misspeak once again in this debate, saying he'd become friends with school shooters, while jd Vance, toward the end of their discussion, refused to say whether or not Donald Trump lost in the twenty twenty election. There were a number of topics as well Joe Matthew that were not broached in this debate, including questions around Ukraine, for example, or the military service of Governor.
Walltz Yeah, both of which we did we hear quite a bit of time spent on here, not the case this evening. Some interesting choices when it came to topics, for instance, family leave instead of one of the two hot wars that are raging right now around the world, and some interesting moments for both candidates. Tim Walls might be remembered Kayley for his line about being friends with school shooters. A lot of people are wondering what he
meant by that. It has already gone viral. Donald Trump, of course, was updating things live online on truth Social with a post now showing a lawn sign. It's already been made Trump Vance twenty four not friends with school shooters. Let's bringing our political panel. Rick Davis and Genie Shanzeno Bloomberg Politics contributors were watching along with us here, and of course the question for both of you, did anyone
win this debate? Geenie? Was this a draw? Or do we actually have a winner that moved the needle?
I think from a purely debating perspective, I think you have to give it to jd Vance. I don't think that's much of a surprise. He is a seasoned He was very good with Tim Ryan, he was good tonight. I think what he did that threw Tim Waltz off a bit was he was very sort of willing to reach across the aisle. He was friendly, he was affable, he was, you know, talking about being bipartisan, all of those kinds of things. So anybody and many of us
thought he might be an attack dog. He was not that he so I think when you look at purely from debate points, he had a very good night. Tim Waltz had some good moments. His talk about healthcare was I think one of his best, as was the January sixth. Unfortunately for Tim Waltz, those came towards the end of the middle end of the debate. You wanted those more at the front, but he seemed nervous, and that's understandable.
This is a big stage for him, biggest he's ever been on, and quite frankly, not that much different than his debate in Minnesota for the governor's race, where he seemed to stumble a bit on words. The school shooter thing, the knucklehead common and I think those are what people who know him expected. So I don't think it's a surprise, but I do think it wasn't Tim Waltz's best to night or best showing well.
We want to go now live to the spin room to get some reaction in real time from the floor in New York. Bloomberg's Amory Hoarder is there now, Amory.
Thank you so much, Kaylie, and I'm joined here by Senator Katie Britt.
Of course of Alabama.
Let's just get your reaction to tonight.
I know before you went.
Into that debate, you were in the spin room talking about you think Senator Vance could close the gap. He had almost an awkward start to this campaign trail. How did you think he performed tonight.
I thought he was outstanding. I think that was one of the best debate performances in American history. I thought he was collected, he was on point, and he was very direct. But I thought the American people got to know JD. Vance to your point. I was asked a number of times before this, and I said, I was honored to know JD. Not just as a colleague, but as a person, as a friend. And when you get to know people like he and Usha as people and as parents, you get to see their heart, You get
to see their vision for the country. Tonight he laid out a vision and he showed why Donald Trump needs to be back in the White House. So I thought he did an excellent job. I thought people got an opportunity to get to know my friend and got to know what I believe in him, and know that he is ready to be the vice president and obviously to serve.
Do you think this moves the needle? Though everyone says only people pay attention to the top of the ticket, does a debate like the running mate move the needle? Look?
I mean, I think he did a great job, very clear in laying out Donald Trump's policies and why we want to go back to a period of prosperity, a period of a secure border of Latino chaos across the globe and the way that we're seeing it today, a place where your dollar goes further, where they're at the grocery store, at the gas station. And so I think he succinctly did that. But what he also did is he reached people. I mean, his ability to just have come.
It felt like you got to know him, you got to see his vision, and you felt hopeful for the future. I got a text from my ninth grade son that said, Mom, like, I like what he's saying, Like this is great stuff, Like this is you know, good, good job.
I feel like your ninth grade son should be in bed, But I guess what we'll give him this one given his mom's on TV also spinning the debate. Can we ask you just one final question about what is actually going on right now and potentially if there's going to be some Congressional action on two things happening right now in the United States? Won the hurricane? Will Congress come back?
Look?
I know we saw Joe Biden come out and say Congress needed to come back, and then we saw his press team walk it back. Unfortunately, that's more of the same of what we're seeing from this administration. We saw Kamala Harris go in and get a briefing, come out and not answer any questions. Obviously, we really lack a commander in chief and number two in charge that's really able to give us direction and can point this country in the right direction even in a time of chaos
like this. I don't think you'll see us come back truly. They've obviously released the twenty billion dollars. There are a number of items we need to take care of, like appropriations bills, amongst other things. So if we do come back, we certainly have a lot of work, but unfortunately every time we're in session, Chuck Schumer chooses to not put bills of meeting on the floor.
Senator Haggerdy has spoke today of Tennessee devastating pictures. He said he's getting everything right now from the federal government, but if he wasn't, he would like to come back.
Yeah.
I'm always happy to work, always happy to come back and do our job. I am frustrated though, as a United States Senator that we lack when you see what Chuck Schumer chooses to put on the floor versus what he should be putting on the floor, things like the NDAA, things like appropriations bills that fund homeland security, amongst other things, NDAA, the Farm Bill. There's a ton of work to be done. I'm ready to do it, but we need some new
leadership and Republicans. This is why it's so important for us to take back the Senate so we can actually do the job that people send us up.
There to do.
Senaor Katie Britt, thank you so much for your time, Kaylee and Joe Senri dri Very. That's his performance this evening.
All right, Emery Hordern in the spin room for us as we continue to unpack what we just experienced in the vice presidential debate. And we'd really liked to stick with our panel here, our signature panel for their clutch analysis, and that includes Rick Davis, of course, Bloomberg Politics contributor. Let's go big picture, Rick, your impressions. You sat here watching this with us for ninety minutes. Did somebody win this debate?
You know, I don't know if there were winners and losers. I think each one of them sort of comported themselves in a way that wasn't, you know, particularly special, but you know, sort of met the needs of their candidates. Really, this is all about reinforcing, you know, the standards that the candidates are running at. At the top of the ticket,
I think JD. Vans did a very good job, very disciplined job of returning repeatedly to immigration, you know, the soft underbelly of the Biden administration, and criticizing almost on every issue some form of immigration impact and whether it was on housing or the economy, national security. And so he came with a plan, he executed his plan. Tim
Walls was Tim Walls. I mean, he got put on this ticket because he was everybody's grandpa and you know, the football coach showed up tonight, you know, and this is clearly what the Harris campaign wants to present. It was unpolished, rough on the edges sometimes, but I would say delivered a lot of good hits against Donald Trump, which was his job, and a very compelling final argument on democracy and the twenty twenty elections at the end of the debate. So, is anybody gonna, you know, stop
the momentum that the Harris campaign has right now? Probably not. Are they going to augment the Trump campaign and somehow probably not. Actually thought both of the candidates today on the stage tried to actually get along with one another, and I think for the purposes of a political campaign, this civility probably neutralized lot of the attacks.
All Right, Rick Davis and Jeanie Shanzana will be back with us in just a moment right now that we want to go back to the spin room floor where anriy Horder is joined by the Governor of Illinois, Henry.
Thank you so much, Kaylie. And that's right, I'm joined by the Governor of Illinois, Dab Pritzker, thank you so much. So I just want to get your reaction to how you thought Governor Walls did, I know it's someone you're very friendly with.
Tim Walls did what Tim Walls does best, which is he showed his heart, especially for middle class Americans, for everyday Americans. It's what he believes in his heart, right, standing up for the issues that matter most at the kitchen table for most people, making sure that they have the ability to retire, the ability to send their kids to college, right, putting dollars in their pocket with a child tax credit, helping them afford to buy a house.
That's what Tim Walls talked about throughout this debate. He also stood up for people's individual freedoms. And then very importantly at the end, I think you heard a very important message, which is Tim Walls will live up to the obligations the job of being vice president, the oath that he would take if he became vice president. Where his opponent would not even admit that Donald Trump lost the twenty twenty election, and he was pressed on that.
So I think you got to look at the contrast between the character of these two people.
Do you think a VP debate, though, can move the needle? I mean, you look at these polls, it's a nice edge. This election neck and neck in all of these swing states. I know, Wisconsin so close to you, you share sometimes a media market with them. Do you think a VP debate actually can move some of these voters that are waiting on the sidelines.
I think the fact that it is so close is why this VP debate matters, And what really matters about it is, again, are you reaching and talking to everyday Americans, working families that are, you know, sometimes suffering from the challenges of the world coming on them, right, And so you heard Tim Wallas talk about what the solutions are for those families. You didn't hear anything from JD. Vance about how to solve those problems. All he did was sort of lie and then stand up for Donald Trump's
lies over and over again. It's frankly, he's very slick debater, JD. Vance and if you could get sort of sucked in by that, But it was Tim Walls who just said it the way that everyday Americans talk. You know, the guy down the street that you trust to watch your kids when you're you know, when you're off doing something during the day, or you know the coach that you had in college or in high school. That really mattered to you and made a difference. That's who Tim Walls really is.
One quick one finally, just on what's going on right now with the DOC workers. Do you think the President needs to enact TAFT Hartley to get these workers back because this is affecting half of US trade.
Look what he said and I believe it too, is that working men and women have the right to organize and if they want to get better pay and they want to get safer workplaces, they have the right to strike if they want. I also believe that the President and the Vice President want to bring the parties together so that there's a real solution to this. So that's going to happen. That happened with the UAW strike, it's
going to happen here. But standing up for the rights of American workers to get better pay, to argue and have the power to collectively bargain for a shafer workplace, those are things that really matter to this administration, and I think we'll see a solution to this problem.
Governor, thank you so much for your time this even thank you Kaylee Joe. Of course that was Governor J. B. Pritzker of Illinois and Marie.
Thank you so much. Talking to one of many surrogates gathered in the spin room tonight. It's been pretty busy with both campaigns trying to frame the conversation that just happened to the benefit of their candidates. Of course, as we reassemble our political panel, Rick Davis and Jeanie Schanzano or with us coming off of the only vice presidential debate that we're going to get here, Tim Walls had
a couple of odd moments, at least different. I think we can admit for a a debate like this, referring to himself as a knucklehead, I think you recalled genie. And then this line about being friends with school shooters, which Frank Luntz already on Twitter this evening says, will be the most memorable line from this debate is that our takeaway.
That'll be probably the takeaway that gets a lot of the social media coverage. I hope people also focus on some of the other things Tim Waltz had to say. Number one, when he said president's words matter. Throughout this debate, we've been seeing Donald Trump live truth. I guess we would call it. People should take a look at what he is saying and look at what he's been saying all day and for the last week, and quite frankly,
for the last year. He also pinned jd Vance down on the question of did Donald Trump lose the twenty twenty election. Jd Vance nosey lost, couldn't say it. He so he had some important moments there where he reminded us, this is Tim Waltz, and this is not really quite frankly about jd Vance. This is about the two people at the top of the ticket, and it is a choice between those two that people have to make. So from that perspective, he was able to make the case
in a different vernacular. For sure, words we've probably never heard on the debate stage. But I think maybe if people look beyond some of that, they're going to see what he said does really have an impact on this race.
Well as we consider what was said there. Jade Vance in the past has said that he doesn't want to get ahead of Donald Trump in saying things about his policies, including on the issue of abortion and whether or not Donald Trump would veto a federal ban. Jd Vance was
talking about that during the debate. Donald Trump, in his life play by play on True Social then said everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban under any circumstances, and would in fact veto it, the first time we have heard him commit to a veto Rick. I just wonder, as Jade Vance was on that stage talking about Republicans need to gain the trust of voters who do not trust them on this issue, is it too late for Donald Trump to definitively say something it for it to matter.
Well, I think this all resonates around the massive gender gap that exists in the selection. And by the way, on both sides, right there's the largest female gender gap to the advantage of Harris and a large male gender gap that is the advantage of Donald Trump. And clearly Donald Trump is super sensitive on this issue because he's
been all over the map on it. And I'm sure the advisors are sitting there right now trying to talk through how do we clean up you know, the sort of confusion that's been created, because even jd Vance was inarticulate, I would say, into what is he actually endorsed, because you know, the easy answer is, oh, well, we're just going to let states deal with it. But then criticize
the governor Waltz's policies in the state. Well, if you're letting states deal with it, then Minnesota to be able to do whatever they want to do.
Point out that jd Vance during the debate said he never supported a federal abortion ban, but he did in twenty twenty two say he would like abortion to be illegal nationally.
No, if you have it.
Look, they both have their moments here. Interesting to hear twenty twenty come up. Toward the end of this debate as well. Walls asks about Trump. Did he lose the twenty twenty election. I'm focused on the future, said jd Vance. Walls called that a damning non answer.
Is that right?
It's absolutely right? And you know, I think both of them did this repeatedly. They tried to drive a division of a wedge, if you will, between their candidate at the top of the ticket. And of course jd Vance doesn't want to stand up there and say he disagrees with Donald Trump. And yet the reality is is we all have to think about the fact that Donald Trump to this moment still claims he won that election and jd Vance stands there knowing that he lost and cannot
say it. And so that just underscores where we are in this race. It's a really important one.
Well certainly, and this may be the only moments like this of to sharing a debate stage we're going to get over the next five weeks. With this performance from jd Vance after the initial Donald Trump Kamala Harris debate, in which she was widely seen as winning, do you think it's more likely or less likely now that they agree to a second presidential debate before November?
For yeah, I really don't think. I mean jd Vance did a fine job, was very disciplined, as we've said, but I don't think it has any impact on Donald Trump. Donald Trump is afraid of getting on the stage. You know, with Kamala Harris, he got man handled literally in the debate that he had with her. The staff don't want him back on a stage. They see that as a risk that they're unwilling to take, and so I really don't think this changes anything in that construct. So I
think you're right, Kayleie. I think we've seen the last debate of this election cycle, and I would say, at best, slight advantage for Advance, but really no harm, no foul to either of the candidates.
On the top of the tickets, we're out of time here. But does Donald Trump feel better about his pick tonight?
Yeah, he probably does, and Maga probably likes him a little bit better. So yeah, maybe his numbers even improve a little bit, but not enough to move the ballot.
We've experienced another one with Rick and Genie many thanks to our signature panel, Rick Davis Genie Shanzano as part of our special coverage of the vice presidential debate on CBS simulcast here on Bloomberg TV and Radio. I'm Joe Matthew alongside Kaylee Lions. We'll be back from Washington. Kayley, I don't know how we'll pull that off. At noontime tomorrow, I'll meet you there.
Indeed, sounds good. In the meantime, have a good evening. This is Bloomberg