Minnesota politicians react to vice presidential debate between Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. JD Vance
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota lawmakers are sharing their thoughts after Tuesday night's vice presidential debate between Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
Several of them, on both sides of the aisle, took to X to discuss the showdown in real time, with lots of differing opinions and takeaways.
State Rep. Marion Rarick, R-Maple Lake, and other Minnesota GOP leaders had strong reactions to comments Walz made on abortion. Marion says he "lies….about everything. Abortion (yes, he signed a bill up until birth). Military record. Visiting China during Tiananmen Square."
According to Laura Doan and Emma Li with the CBS News Confirmed Team, claims made by Republicans about late-term abortions in Minnesota are misleading, with Vance himself in the debate omitting key context about the law which "advocates say allows parents of infants not expected to survive to forgo extraordinary and futile interventions."
GOP Congressman Tom Emmer says Vance "demolished" Walz on the debate stage and won by a "landslide," saying he focused on issues Americans care about.
Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar wrote, "Maybe JD Vance should have stayed on the couch?" It's a reference to a lie that spread on social media about a fake explicit excerpt from Vance's 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," which Walz — and Vance himself — have referenced during rallies to drudge up laughs.
Omar went on to write, "MAGA Republicans are afraid of Tim Walz because he wants to give every American the Minnesota Miracle wins like universal school meals, worker protections, and paid family and medical leave."
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith accused Vance of "mansplaining" and ended her live-time reactions with, "I've gotta believe that those undecided voters out there saw in Tim a man they can trust to fight for them."
The CBS News Confirmed team fact-checked the biggest claims made by the candidates during the debate.
