Opinion

Tim Walz Failed His Debate Assignment in One Big Way: He Was Too Nice

THE NEW ABNORMAL

“I needed to see teeth during this [debate] and by teeth, I mean like… take a bite out of JD Vance,” The New Abnormal co-host Danielle Moodie said.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, speaks during a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz failed to meet the moment at Tuesday’s vice presidential debate in New York City in one big way, according to Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy, co-hosts of The New Abnormal. He was too nice.

“I needed to see teeth during this and by teeth I mean like… take a bite out of JD Vance,” Moodie said. “JD Vance stood up there and Walz normalized his lies.”

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“[Vance] has sane-washed Donald Trump and he seemed like a reasonable guy because Tim Walz kept saying, you know, well, I agree with him on some things—as if this is a normal election,” Moodie added. “He didn’t really bring it until the end, which I think mattered.”

“Absolutely,” Levy agreed. “This was painful to watch.”

In particular, both hosts took issue with Walz’s inability to challenge JD Vance on a host of controversial comments that resurfaced in the wake of his selection as running mate for Trump.

“Walz could have hit him over the head and made him apologize, walk back, or contort himself into saying, ‘I didn’t mean childless cat ladies. I didn’t mean that the only purpose for post-menopausal women was to be the caretakers of still-fertile women. I didn’t mean that kids should get shot in their classrooms,’” Moodie said. “I feel like he offered up too much agreement, which again to your point made it seem like JD Vance is normal when he is actually more extreme than Donald Trump.”

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

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