While both vice presidential candidates were alternately celebrated and skewered on social media throughout Tuesday night’s debate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s toughest critics noted he was “too nice” while Sen. JD Vance was described as “all manner of wrong” by viewers posting on X, formerly Twitter.
A woman tweeting by the name of @theNFLchick offered her takeaway on Walz: “I’m not watching the VP debate because my mind is made up. But from what i gather from yalls tweets, Walz is too nice.”
Another person decided to sum up Vance’s performance in an all-caps message in the style of Donald Trump. X user @aldigheiro wrote on the platform, “HIS VIBE IS THIS WEIRD, GROSS, UNLIKEABLE, LYING, TOO SLICK, SALESMAN TRYING TO SELL HIMSELF BUT IT’S JUST ALL WRONG.”
“THERE’S AN UNDERLYING GROSS THING THAT U JUST CAN’T PUT UR FINGER ON BUT U KNOW IT’S ALL MANNER OF WRONG. #VPDebate2024 IT JUST SAYS ‘STAY AWAY FROM THIS GUY’!”
Vance appeared to avoid answering the initial question about the wars in the Middle East directly at the beginning of the debate. Viewers at home were quick to point this out on X, where several people shared GIFs that illustrated the lengths to which Vance went.
Vance also spent a significant part of the night defending running mate Donald Trump, a turnabout that MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace described as a “masterclass in BS” Tuesday — a sentiment that some appeared to share.
Walz also did not escape scrutiny. Some people thought it looked like Walz was even interested and supportive of some of Vance’s points. As @liljulsie wrote on X, “Trump spent months hinting at nuclear war with North Korea and ended his presidency with people dying in a pandemic lol we did not feel safe under him. what is Vance talking about #VPDebate2024.”
Walz also did not escape scrutiny and gibes. Minnesota’s governor noted that he agreed with Vance at different points in the conversation, which prompted @PHX_LC to joke, “I think Walz is going to vote for Vance.”
Walz also seemed nervous at times, or at least more nervous than his counterpart. @300mirrors wrote on X, “The Office vibes. Yes, JD, we can’t believe what he’s saying either.”
Despite those jitters, Walz received plenty of positive feedback throughout the night. Twitch streamer @hasanthehun wrote, “tim walz has convinced me that minnesota is significantly better than most other places in the nation. dont know what this means for the national race.”
The Harris Wins X account also celebrated Walz’s answer to a question about gun control. They wrote, “BREAKING: Tim Walz just perfectly explained why as a gun owner he chose to support an assaults weapon ban. Retweet to make sure all Americans see this powerful moment.”
If anyone won the night, it might have been the moderators, Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, especially after they muted the mics on both candidates. Author @anseldeangelo offered a GIF of Beyoncé during the mute challenge from her Renaissance Tour. They wrote, “*Margaret once she put those mics on mute*”
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