It was “striking” to ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl that it took 90 minutes into the vice presidential debate before there was a question on Jan. 6.
Karl, along with ABC News White House correspondent Mary Bruce, discussed the aftermath of the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate between Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday. Bruce reported the Harris campaign was already attempting to capitalize on the candidates’ comments regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol protests and the 2020 election.
“Yeah, 90 minutes in, they feel that that was the moment that defined this debate. That exchange on January 6, defending the Constitution, In fact, this morning they are rushing to get out an ad on that exchange what Walz called Vance’s ‘damning non-answer,’” Bruce said.
Karl expressed his frustration that it took so long to get to the question, considering “this is not a normal election.”
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“What was striking to me is that you had 90 minutes into this debate before you hit the fact that this is not a normal election, that Donald Trump tried to overturn the last election. And in that last answer, what you saw is JD Vance saying he wouldn’t do what Mike Pence did. He wouldn’t stand up to Donald Trump if he tried to do it again. He would help him, and he would have helped him last time overturn an American democratic election,” Karl said.
He added, “You finally got to that at the end. But, for the first 90 minutes or so, this looked like it is simply a campaign about policy differences. And it’s really not, George. It is more than that.”
“It is. It is absolutely stunning, the only time in American history it has ever happened,” host George Stephanopoulos responded.
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During the debate, Walz confronted Vance over his stance on the results of the 2020 election.
“This was a threat to our democracy in a way that we had not seen, and it manifested itself because of Donald Trump’s inability to say – he is still saying he didn’t lose the election,” Walz said. “Did he lose the 2020 election?”
“Tim, I’m focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?” Vance responded.
Walz called it a “damning non-answer.”
According to the Fox News Debate Dial, the dials for independents and Democratic voters dropped significantly at Vance’s answer on whether former President Trump lost the 2020 election, with independents seeing the sharpest decline.
However, many viewers and even New York Times columnists have said they believed Vance ultimately won the debate Tuesday night.
