Finance Association News on October 2nd (Editor Huang Junzhi) At 21:00 Eastern Time on October 1st (9:00 on October 2nd Beijing Time), the Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, and the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, held the 'open mic' debate as scheduled.

Overall, although the two of them were sharp-tongued, their attitudes were relatively 'friendly'. Vance softened his tough image to a large extent, while the latter showed some signs of nervousness. They tried to maintain decorum and focus on policies while also launching fierce attacks on each other's running mates from time to time.

This is the first and possibly the only time the two of them have clashed on the debate stage before the official election on November 5th. The topics included the Middle East crisis, immigration, taxes, abortion, climate change, and the economy, among other issues. Analysts believe that as the US election day approaches and the situation remains tight, the importance and influence of Walz and Vance on the election far exceed previous vice presidential debates.

Furthermore, Harris and Trump are unlikely to debate again, making this possibly the 'final debate' before the election.

It is known that the 60-year-old Walz is a liberal governor and former high school teacher. The 40-year-old Vance is a bestselling author and a conservative radical senator. Both are white Americans from the Midwest, claiming to understand the real needs of the American heartland, but they have significant policy differences.

Since Vance's nomination in July of this year, he has been criticized for comments he made in 2021, including calling several key Democratic figures, including Harris, 'poor childless cat ladies'. He also said, 'They are in agony with their lives and choices, and want to make others in this country suffer too'. Walz described his Republican opponent as 'bizarre'.

Vance vs. Walz

As expected, both of them exerted their full efforts to "harm each other" in this debate, especially when it comes to the two presidential candidates, Harris and Trump.

Wanz questioned why Harris did not do more to address inflation, immigration, and economic issues during her tenure in the Biden administration, and continued to help Trump's campaign team tie Harris to current President Biden's record in office.

He said, "If Kamala Harris has such great plans on how to address middle-class issues, she should implement them now, instead of waiting until she runs for president. She could have done this when she served as Vice President three and a half years ago."

Waltz described Trump as an unstable leader who prioritizes billionaires, countered Wanz's criticism on immigration, and attacked Trump for pressuring congressional Republicans earlier this year to abandon a bipartisan border security bill.

"Most of us want to solve this problem," Waltz said regarding immigration. "Donald Trump had four years to do this, he promised the American people it would be easy."

Regarding the escalating Middle East crisis, Waltz said Trump is too "fickle" and too sympathetic to strongmen to be trusted to handle the escalating conflicts, while Wanz insisted that Trump made the world safer during his tenure.

When asked if he would support Israel's preemptive strike on Iran, Wanz stated he would defer to Israel's determination, while Waltz did not directly answer this question.

The most tense confrontation occurred towards the end of the debate when Wanz avoided a question about whether he would question this year's election results if Trump lost. After the defeat in 2020, Trump repeatedly questioned the election results, refused to concede to Biden, and repeatedly claimed widespread election fraud.

"He's still saying he didn't lose the election," Waltz said, then turned to Vance: "Did he lose the 2020 election?"

Vance avoided the question again. Waltz said: "This is a question with absolutely no answer."

Editor / jayden