The cohosts of The View had a lot of expectations ahead of Tuesday (October 1) night’s debate between vice presidential hopefuls JD Vance and Tim Walz, so it’s not a shock that they had a lot to say about how it actually unfolded on the debate stage.
For Sunny Hostin, the “craziest part” of the debate came at the very end when Vance was challenged to answer whether his running mate Donald Trump lost the 2020 election against Joe Biden, and he refused to answer, saying instead, “Tim, I’m focused on the future.”
“No answer is an answer, right?” Hostin said. “I think Walz was the clear winner. I’m surprised that some polls are saying something different. He was in command of the facts. He was in command of policies. He was civil. He was kind. He was willing to admit he made a mistake. On the other hand, JD Vance refused to admit that Trump lost the 2020 election. He is an election denier. That, in my view, makes him not only unfit, but disqualifies him.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin agreed that Vance’s refusal to acknowledge Trump’s loss to Biden in 2020 made for “the clippable moment of the night that’s going to resonate in ads” but argued Vance’s delivery was still successful. “I think JD Vance strategically went in to do Midwestern nice to disarm Tim Walz, and Tim Walz kind of took the bait, so he wasn’t in fighting mode,” Griffin said. “There were some fact checks [Walz] could have done that he dropped the ball on… Performance-wise, [Vance] is eloquent, he can feign empathy … I found moments where I was like, ‘Wow, I really want to believe that he’s empathetic and feeling. But I just remember the guy insulting cat ladies… the guy who didn’t have sympathy for Haitian migrant children who are being targeted in their schools.”
Sara Haines completely agreed with that sentiment, arguing that Vance concealed the part of his persona that criticized “childless cat ladies” and spread “Haitians eating their pets” conspiracy theories. “He was able to do something Donald Trump is not able to do,” Haines said. “He was able to appear normal and even likable for about two hours.”
Haines went on to disagree with Hostin’s assessment that subsequent polls showing Vance with a win were out of left field because, “Yesterday, I said, ‘You’re going to see delivery and style,’ and JD Vance took the night on that. If you’re watching for substance and policy, Tim Walz clearly crossed that bar for me.”
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Joy Behar circled back to Vance’s comment on the previous election, noting, “He says with a straight face that Trump peacefully gave over power on January 20. You cannot buy this type of slickness… He’s like a guy who’s selling knockoffs of Louis Vuitton and telling you they’re real. And I think Trump must be very jealous because it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m a bumbling fool. I’m one Big Mac away from a heart attack. And this guy is taking over here the way I should.’”
Griffin then agreed that “how glowing the reviews” from far-right circles are of Vance’s performance would “irk” her former boss, Trump.
For Whoopi Goldberg, Vance’s performance was basically “a lot of good acting choices.” She then assigned him an accidental nickname, “Juvenile Delinquent,” and said, ” he was trying to show you this other side [of himself] … But I don’t want that in the White House. I don’t want people not to know who it is they’re dealing with.”
The View, weekdays 11 a.m. ET, ABC
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