Key moments but no clear winner

Although the debate was mostly low-key, each side’s supporters found ways to criticize the other party’s candidate. Walz’s “worst” moment in the eyes of many of his detractors came when he stumbled a bit while trying to answer a question about him misstating his presence in Hong Kong during the April-June 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China, giving a long answer about his travels and his upbringing that muddled his response that “I got there that summer and misspoke.”

this was a bad moment for Walz but him misrepresenting when he went to China by a couple months doesn't strike me as hugely important pic.twitter.com/nhAId7WoBx

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2024

Vance, meanwhile, refused to directly answer a question about whether he accepted that Former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. The Ohio senator instead tried to paint Vice President Kamala Harris as a bigger threat to democracy than Trump, accusing the vice president of “censorship at an industrial scale,” seemingly referring to efforts to remove misinformation on social media. Walz took him to task for the comparison and the evasive response, saying that “January 6 was not Facebook ads” and called Vance’s response “a damning nonanswer.” Walz addressed voters on the issue of democracy, saying, “You’ve got a really clear choice on this election of who’s going to honor that democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump.”

Walz: Look, when Mike Pence made that decision to certify the election, that's why Mike Pence isn't on this stage.. America, I think you’ve got a really clear choice on who’s going to honor Democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/aPrhzEB6dN

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 2, 2024

Several snap polls taken immediately after the debate show no clear-cut winner. CBS News’ poll showed 42% of respondents saying Vance won, 41% giving the nod to Walz and 17% calling it a tie. CNN’s poll, meanwhile, gave a close 51% to 49% advantage to Vance. Both polls had both candidates’ favorability ratings going up after the debate. And a separate poll conducted by Politico and Focaldata deemed the debate a 50%-50% tie. That poll showed that 57% of Independents thought Walz won the debate, while only 42% of Independents thought Vance won.

These split results symbolize a presidential race that remains close. With many states already conducting early voting and just over one month until Election Day, both tickets will spend the next several weeks trying to jump ahead and claim victory in November.

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