J.D. Vance had a rough start as Donald Trump’s running mate, but at least among Republicans, he saved his reputation for one night during the debate against Tim Walz.
After Donald Trump’s ill-fated debate against Kamala Harris where he vigorously defended his crowd sizes and lied about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eating pets, the bar was relatively low for J.D. Vance during Tuesday’s debate with Tim Walz. However, he not only exceeded it but surpassed it among Republican operatives I spoke with. One in Vance’s orbit texted a GIF of a baseball player hitting a home run when asked for an assessment of the debate shortly after it ended.
Other operatives from across the party kvelled about the Ohio senator’s performance, which they thought seemed particularly outstanding when compared to an at-times stumbling performance from his Democratic rival, the Minnesota governor. Some couldn’t help but spend the aftermath of the debate glued to their social-media feeds and CNN, reveling in what they perceived as Democratic bedwetting
Another Republican in Vance world said simply, “We killed it.” The one moment Democrats celebrated during the debate was Vance’s refusal to answer a question about whether Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.
