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Tim Walz, usually quite talkative, had surprisingly little to say following Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate against Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
After the debate, the Minnesota governor, who is running alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, stopped by Justino’s Pizza in New York City. When asked about his thoughts on the debate, Walz gave a brief response.
“I think it was a good debate. The public got to see a contrast, and I think the ending sums it up. The democracy issue is important,” he said in a video shared on the social media platform X.
Walz then chose to ignore the next two questions, which sought clarification on his major gaffe of the night—claiming during the debate that he was friends with school shooters.
“Can you clarify what you meant when you said you befriended school shooters?” one reporter asked. Another followed up with, “You said you’ve become friends with school shooters during the debate, can you clarify what you meant by that?”
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter was tragically killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting, expressed outrage over the comment, stating it went beyond a simple live TV mistake.
“My daughter was killed in the Parkland school shooting. It’s absolutely abhorrent that Tim Walz has befriended school shooters. Disqualifying,” Pollack posted on X.
Elon Musk remarked on X that it was “Mind-blowing that Tim Walz said he was ‘friends with school shooters.’”
In her review of the debate for Fox News, body language expert Carole Lieberman highlighted how Walz fell short compared to Vance, who came out as the clear winner.
“What JD Vance had that made him most likable and most trusted was that he was authentic … you could just sum it up in one word. JD Vance was authentic. He made big hand movements, but they were just to explain what he was saying,” Lieberman explained.
She pointed out that Walz appeared anxious and uncomfortable during his responses.
“With Tim Walz, he was all over the place. He was very nervous, and he also showed body language signs of lying. His body language was discordant with what he was saying. It was too much—it made you feel exhausted and scared,” Lieberman said.
In contrast, Vance radiated confidence throughout the debate.
“He wanted to, ‘Let’s go, I can’t wait to do this, I’m going to do it’ … he’s Trump lite,” Carole Lieberman said of JD Vance. “It’s that authenticity, like, ‘I want to take care of America, I want to make America great again.’ All of that just came through naturally. By the end, you kind of wanted him to push Tim Walz away. ‘You’re making me nervous’ kind of thing, and with JD Vance, you just kind of felt, ‘OK, that’s good.’”
Lieberman added that Vance appeared steady, “like you can kind of see him as a captain of the ship. He wasn’t too stiff, but you knew what you were going to get. Each time he seemed sure of himself … And so you felt like you would be safe with him. He gave an air of stability.”
