17 Vice Presidential Debate Moments That Made Me Cringe To My Core

Earlier today, for medical reasons, I had to fast for 16 hours and then drink a sugary beverage that made my stomach hurt. I bring this up because I would rather do that than sit through parts of the Tim Walz and J.D. Vance vice presidential debate again.

Look, I covered the presidential debate, and comparatively, this was a far more cordial affair. Candidates shook hands. They even said they agreed on some things! What a shocker!

However, during the coach versus the alleged couch fucker* event, there were still...moments. Here are the most bananas things that unfortunately happened:

*For legal reasons, this is a joke.

1.When Vance began his answer to a question about the possibility of a "preemptive strike on Iran by Israel" by saying, "I want to answer the question, but I want to actually give an introduction to myself a little bit" — and then talked about himself.

2.When Vance was confronted with the whole Donald-Trump-called-climate-change-a-hoax thing and had to suggest that climate change research is "weird science."

3.When Vance blamed illegal migrants and Kamala Harris for opening the "floodgates" that "enabled the Mexican drug cartels to operate freely in this country" and distribute fentanyl — despite the fact that most fentanyl is smuggled across the border through legal routes.

4.Then, when Vance blamed illegal immigrants for "overwhelmed" schools and hospitals, and unaffordable housing. He then said, "The people I'm most worried about in Springfield, Ohio are the American citizens" — downplaying Trump's false claims that the Haitian migrants are eating cats and dogs, stoking racist and xenophobic fears.

5.When moderator Margaret Brennan stated that many Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio were in the US legally, and Vance interjected, "The rules were that you weren't going to fact check." As he kept interjecting about legalities, his microphone was eventually cut off. In response, Margaret said, "Thank you for explaining the legal process."

6.When things got heated over the economy, prompting Walz to interject, "That's a gross generalization" — and stare at Vance like he was ready to throw hands.

7.When Walz was asked about his comments claiming to have been in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests and his response included the phrase, "I'm a knucklehead at times."

8.When Vance, who said, “I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally" in 2022, claimed, "I never supported a national ban."

9.When Vance tried claiming that Minnesota denies lifesaving care to "a baby who survives a botched late-term abortion." (Infanticide is illegal.) A back-and-forth ensued, with Walz stating that the claim was false, and Vance couldn't explain how.

10.When Vance's proposed solutions to gun violence in schools included to "make the doors lock better, to make the doors stronger, we've got to make the windows stronger."

11.Then, when Vance tried to link gun violence with mental illness, and Walz said, "Sometimes it is just the guns. It's just the guns."

12.When Vance said, "We don't want to blame immigrants for higher housing prices." Seconds later, he said that "one of the most significant drivers of home prices in the country" is illegal immigrants.

13.When the moderators pointed out that Vance still had 23 seconds to talk about housing, prompting Walz to interject, "Can I have it?"

14.When Vance was asked about Trump's "concept of a plan" comments on healthcare policy, and he said it was "very simple common sense."

15.When Vance said, "Something that these guys do is make a lot of claims about if Donald Trump becomes president, all these terrible consequences are going to ensue" — to which Walz enthusiastically nodded.

16.When Vance turned a question about Jan. 6 and whether he would accept the results of the 2024 election to talk about the "threat of censorship" on national television.

17.Finally, when Walz outright asked Vance if he thought that Trump lost the election in 2020, and Vance replied, "Tim, I'm focused on the future."

Hey, at least they made more sense than the presidential debate!