Americans were treated to a more cordial, less bombastic discussion during Tuesday’s vice presidential candidates’ debate – and responded by tuning out.
The matchup between Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio Senator JD Vance drew a televised audience of some 43 million viewers according to numbers released by Nielsen: a decline of some 35% compared to last month’s faceoff between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. The number is also less than the 57 million who watched Harris and former Vice President Mike Pence debate four years ago and far lower than the almost 70 million who watched then-vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin spar in 2008.
Snap polling after the event showed no clear winner, although the two differed slightly in their presentation. Walz, who has enjoyed a lower national profile than his opponent, appeared nervous at times, stumbling over his words and flailing in response to a question about previous comments about his time spent in China. The Democratic candidate delivered a heartfelt answer on the subject of gun violence in the United States, but users on social media seized on a gaffe in which Walz claimed he had “become friends with school shooters.”
Vance appeared generally competent but was criticized for a tangent about accusations of pets being killed and eaten by Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, one of the more surreal moments from last month’s debate between Trump and Harris. Both candidates’ microphones were cut after Vance argued with Walz and moderators on the subject.
The matchup took place in the context of escalating tensions in the Middle East between Israel and the region's pro-Palestine Axis of Resistance. Iran was heavily censured for its retaliatory strike against Israel Tuesday, which has reportedly resulted in no Israeli fatalities. The combined death toll from Israeli attacks in Lebanon has neared 2,000 as Tel Aviv repeatedly targets residential high-rises under the pretense that they are inhabited by Hezbollah fighters.
The official death toll from Israel’s operation in the besieged Gaza Strip meanwhile has reached almost 41,700, which is thought to represent a significant undercount as thousands of bodies remain unaccounted for under the rubble of Israeli airstrikes.
Both candidates expressed undying loyalty towards the Zionist state, with Vance framing his support for the country in the context of Trump’s purported noninterference in foreign affairs; the vice presidential candidate claimed “it is up to Israel” whether it should launch an escalatory strike on Iran.
Walz doubled down on the Harris campaign’s strong backing of Israel, confusingly claiming that “the expansion of Israel and its proxies is an absolute fundamental necessity for the United States to have steady leadership” in the Middle East.
The Minnesota governor also took the opportunity to repeat the discredited Russiagate conspiracy theory and seemingly attacked former President Trump for pursuing diplomacy with the DPRK, claiming, “When our allies see Donald Trump turn towards Vladimir Putin, turn towards North Korea, when we start to see that type of fickleness around holding the coalitions together, we will stay committed.”
With Democrats and Republicans acting to sideline the influence of third parties – even as majorities of Americans consistently voice support for independent candidates – Tuesday’s event was a stark reminder that both major parties remain fully committed to the US doctrine of “full spectrum dominance,” with the perpetuation of Western hegemony considered beyond debate. As the rest of the planet increasingly struggles for a world where the global majority exercise power and influence in line with their numbers, political support for multipolarism remains confined to governments beyond the United States and its European allies – for now.