Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) is getting rave reviews after the vice presidential debate Tuesday night against his Democratic counterpart Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
One political pundit said Vance gave a “commanding performance,” The Hill reported.
“For Vance, it was a commanding performance. For Walz, it was a nervous ramble. For the audience, it was the most civil and substantive debate of the Trump era,” Ross Douthat, a columnist for The New York Times, wrote.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, “The View” co-host and a CNN commentator, was also impressed by Vance.
“I was struck by the fact that JD Vance is a significantly more eloquent Donald Trump,” she said. “Watching that, I don’t agree with JD Vance on quite a bit, but he speaks to MAGA in a way that he comes off as an incredibly effective communicator.”
Vance even received compliments from Democrats, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“You know, JD Vance was a better debater than Donald Trump,” she said. “Donald Trump should have taken some lessons from him.”
The pair debated in New York City in what is likely their only debate. CBS News hosted the event.
While vice presidential debates rarely impact the election one way or another, Vance showed off his debating skills by appearing more comfortable and relaxed.
Vance also attempted to appear more in the political middle on such topics as abortion.
He said, “As a Republican who proudly wants to protect innocent life in this country, who proudly wants to protect the vulnerable is that my party, we’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American People’s trust back on this issue where they frankly just don’t trust us.”
Walz, on the other hand, seemed shaky and stumbled over an answer clarifying recent reports he was not present during the Tiananmen Square protests. He had said he was there and eventually admitted he misspoke.
Former President Donald Trump praised his running mate on his Truth Social.
“JD crushed it! Walz was a Low IQ Disaster — Very much like Kamala,” Trump wrote in a post. “Our Country would never be able to recover from an Administration of these two. Can you imagine them representing us with sharp, fierce Foreign Leaders? I can’t!”
Trump campaign senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita also lauded Vance, saying, “Senator Vance proved why President Trump chose him as his running mate.”
Farah Griffin commented that Vance’s performance may entice Trump to debate again.
“I honestly would be surprised that Donald Trump doesn’t want to debate again because JD Vance did so well and he’s going to want the final kind of, you know, the closing argument,” she said.
Pundits were not the only ones singing Vance’s praises, as evidenced on X, formerly Twitter.
