Both vice presidential candidates’ microphones were briefly cut off after a fact-checking scuffle during Tuesday’s debate, in one of the most contentious moments of the evening.
J.D. Vance and Tim Walz kept Tuesday’s debate mostly civil as they debated abortion, immigration and the economy, but Midwestern civility seemed to melt away when the subject of Springfield, Ohio, came up.
Vance, an Ohio state senator, has faced significant criticism in recent weeks for spreading an unsubstantiated narrative that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating their pets (local officials have said there are no credible reports of this happening). Donald Trump also reinforced this narrative during the presidential debate against Kamala Harris. Days later, bomb threats flooded Springfield, forcing people to evacuate schools and government buildings.
Vance refrained from pushing the pet-eating claim during Tuesday’s debate, but doubled down on claims that “illegal immigrants” dominate Springfield’s infrastructure.
“In Springfield, Ohio, and in communities across this country, there are overcrowded schools, overcrowded hospitals, and absolutely unaffordable housing because we have brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes,” Vance said.
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After Vance’s response, CBS Director Margaret Brennan stepped in to verify Vance’s statement.
“And just to be clear to our viewers, Springfield, Ohio has a large population of Haitian immigrants who have legal status, temporary protected status,” Brennan said.
Vance immediately protested the interference.
“Margaret, the rules are no fact checking,” he said, speaking over co-moderator Norah O’Donnell as she tried to move on to the next discussion topic.
CBS News, which hosted the debate, had previously said that Brennan and O’Donnell would not provide a live fact-check during the broadcast. Instead, it was up to the vice presidential candidates to validate each other. A QR code was also present on the screen for viewers to visit an online fact check on CBS News.
“Since you’re checking me out, it’s important that you say what’s really going on,” Vance said. He criticized the legal process through which immigrants can apply for temporary status and parole as “facilitating illegal immigration.”
Brennan allowed Vance to speak briefly before interrupting him in an attempt to move on to other issues. Walz also jumped in to say that these immigration laws have been “on the books since 1990.”
Vance began to respond to Walz’s intervention but his words did not make it to the broadcast because CBS News cut off Vance and Walz’s microphones.
“Gentlemen, the audience can’t hear you because your microphones are cut off,” Brennan said. “We have a lot to get to. Thank you for explaining the legal process.”
Trump turned to his social media platform, Truth Social, to support his running mate after a dispute over fact-checking.
“Margaret Brennan lied again about the illegal immigrants Kamala Harris allowed into our country, then cut off JD’s microphone to prevent him from correcting her!” books.
Trump too He attacked personally Supervisor O’Donnell wrote: “I thought Nora was fired from CBS because of low ratings. Why is she still there?”
in Another postTrump called both moderators “very biased broadcasters!”
Other Republicans, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, piled in. Who said? The moderators had “made two unwarranted editorial statements” and were attacking Vance “under the guise of ‘fact-checking’.”
Fact check It was a problem During last month’s debate between Trump and Harris after moderators corrected Trump at least four times, angering the former president and his supporters. When Trump debated President Joe Biden last spring, CNN moderators did not attempt to make any on-air corrections.
The vice presidential debate may have been the last chance for viewers to see representatives of both presidential campaigns come out on screen. Harris called for a second debate between her and Trump, but the Republican candidate did not accept the challenge.
-With files from The Associated Press
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