Vance and Walz Appear on Sunday Morning Shows
The series of consecutive interviews provided an opportunity for two vice presidential candidates to clarify their previous comments.
TroibNews 
Vice presidential nominees JD Vance and Tim Walz participated in a debate rematch of sorts with back-to-back interviews on "Fox News Sunday" this past Sunday.
Two weeks have passed since their last debate, which is expected to be the final one for this campaign season. With three weeks remaining until Election Day, these interviews allowed the vice presidential candidates to clarify past statements and reiterate their campaign messages.
In a later interview segment, Vance was again questioned about whether he believed his running mate lost the presidential election in 2020. He dismissed these inquiries, stating he'd been "asked this question 10 times in the past couple of weeks," and acknowledged the gender gap between the two parties by saying, "I'm aware of the gender gap." Meanwhile, Walz aimed to reinforce his commitment to the Second Amendment, asserting, "Look, no one's coming for your guns."
During his interview on "Fox News Sunday," Vance, who previously addressed the gender gap issue on the campaign trail, emphasized that matters such as public safety and the economy are priorities for women, seeking to effectively communicate this message. Current polling indicates that former President Donald Trump is lagging behind Vice President Kamala Harris by double digits among women voters.
“I see the polling everyone else does,” Vance told Shannon Bream. “I also think there is some evidence we made progress in the last few weeks, and, of course, we are still a few weeks from the actual game day here.”
Vance’s attempts to address his ticket’s shortcomings with women come as Vice President Kamala Harris faces the opposite issue — struggling to attract male voters, particularly blue-collar workers.
In a comment to local ABC affiliate WPVI in Philadelphia on Friday, Walz suggested that the Democratic Party's challenge in appealing to men stems from messaging.
“I think we need to make sure we're getting out to them,” the Minnesota governor stated. “We hear what they're saying, we understand that they're concerned, too, with issues whether it's climate or health care or reproductive rights. Men care about that, too — but message in a way that we're hearing them.”
Bream pressed Walz on his August remarks during a "White Dudes For Kamala Harris" fundraising call, where he encouraged participants not to "shy away from our progressive values" and noted, "one person's socialism is another person's neighborliness.”
In response, Walz expressed his belief that "capitalism works and it lifts everyone up.” However, he also added: “I also believe you have to make sure that there's things that we collectively do together,” such as educating children, constructing infrastructure, and addressing public health.
Both vice presidential nominees also sought to clarify that they do not intend to infringe upon Americans' rights. During his interview, Vance elaborated on recent remarks regarding the Trump administration's stance on Planned Parenthood, stating he does not support using taxpayer funds for abortions. However, he did not directly address Bream's inquiry about non-abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood if the organization were entirely defunded.
“What we have said is we don't want taxpayer funding for abortions, and that of course has been the bipartisan approach over 40 years in this country until, frankly, Kamala Harris came along,” Vance said. “I know Planned Parenthood does a lot of things, a lot of things that a lot of young women, a lot of young families need.”
Vance reiterated that he and Trump prefer abortion policies to be a matter for individual states, emphasizing their opposition to a national abortion ban, even when confronted with his past statements advocating for banning abortion after 15 to 20 weeks.
Walz defended Harris against allegations from Trump and Vance that the Democratic ticket intends to strip law-abiding Americans of their firearms, a critical issue for rural voters, especially men. Both Harris and Walz are gun owners and advocate for sensible gun safety measures.
However, Bream highlighted Walz's evolution on gun policy, noting his previous "A" rating from the NRA as a moderate House Democrat and contrasting it with his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. She also referenced Harris’ 2019 comments about supporting a mandatory gun buyback program for assault weapons.
Walz downplayed Harris' remarks, asserting that concepts such as mandatory home searches or gun buybacks are not part of their campaign’s platform.
“Yeah, no one's talking about that,” Walz stated, recalling his recent pheasant hunting outing in Minnesota with "conservative" friends regarding firearm policies. “I will defend the Second Amendment. And there's nothing that we're proposing, whether it's extremist risk protection orders or background checks, that will stop you from owning that,” he added.
“So look, no one's coming for your guns. I continue to buy them. The vice president is a gun owner, so many of your viewers are," Walz clarified. "But they also are concerned that we don't need to see our children shot in schools.”
Additionally, Walz sought to clarify earlier statements about the limitations of free speech concerning hate speech and misinformation, affirming his belief that the First Amendment “is foundational” while criticizing GOP attempts to ban certain books in schools. He also reiterated that Harris and the campaign do not support abolishing the Electoral College, despite his previous remark at a California fundraiser indicating that it "needs to go."
Vance also made an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” where he reaffirmed his stance on the 2020 election results by refusing to state that Trump lost.
“I have been asked this question 10 times in the past couple of weeks,” Vance said during a challenging exchange with ABC’s Martha Raddatz. “Of course, Donald Trump and I believe there were problems in 2020.”
James del Carmen for TROIB News
Two weeks have passed since their last debate, which is expected to be the final one for this campaign season. With three weeks remaining until Election Day, these interviews allowed the vice presidential candidates to clarify past statements and reiterate their campaign messages.
In a later interview segment, Vance was again questioned about whether he believed his running mate lost the presidential election in 2020. He dismissed these inquiries, stating he'd been "asked this question 10 times in the past couple of weeks," and acknowledged the gender gap between the two parties by saying, "I'm aware of the gender gap." Meanwhile, Walz aimed to reinforce his commitment to the Second Amendment, asserting, "Look, no one's coming for your guns."
During his interview on "Fox News Sunday," Vance, who previously addressed the gender gap issue on the campaign trail, emphasized that matters such as public safety and the economy are priorities for women, seeking to effectively communicate this message. Current polling indicates that former President Donald Trump is lagging behind Vice President Kamala Harris by double digits among women voters.
“I see the polling everyone else does,” Vance told Shannon Bream. “I also think there is some evidence we made progress in the last few weeks, and, of course, we are still a few weeks from the actual game day here.”
Vance’s attempts to address his ticket’s shortcomings with women come as Vice President Kamala Harris faces the opposite issue — struggling to attract male voters, particularly blue-collar workers.
In a comment to local ABC affiliate WPVI in Philadelphia on Friday, Walz suggested that the Democratic Party's challenge in appealing to men stems from messaging.
“I think we need to make sure we're getting out to them,” the Minnesota governor stated. “We hear what they're saying, we understand that they're concerned, too, with issues whether it's climate or health care or reproductive rights. Men care about that, too — but message in a way that we're hearing them.”
Bream pressed Walz on his August remarks during a "White Dudes For Kamala Harris" fundraising call, where he encouraged participants not to "shy away from our progressive values" and noted, "one person's socialism is another person's neighborliness.”
In response, Walz expressed his belief that "capitalism works and it lifts everyone up.” However, he also added: “I also believe you have to make sure that there's things that we collectively do together,” such as educating children, constructing infrastructure, and addressing public health.
Both vice presidential nominees also sought to clarify that they do not intend to infringe upon Americans' rights. During his interview, Vance elaborated on recent remarks regarding the Trump administration's stance on Planned Parenthood, stating he does not support using taxpayer funds for abortions. However, he did not directly address Bream's inquiry about non-abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood if the organization were entirely defunded.
“What we have said is we don't want taxpayer funding for abortions, and that of course has been the bipartisan approach over 40 years in this country until, frankly, Kamala Harris came along,” Vance said. “I know Planned Parenthood does a lot of things, a lot of things that a lot of young women, a lot of young families need.”
Vance reiterated that he and Trump prefer abortion policies to be a matter for individual states, emphasizing their opposition to a national abortion ban, even when confronted with his past statements advocating for banning abortion after 15 to 20 weeks.
Walz defended Harris against allegations from Trump and Vance that the Democratic ticket intends to strip law-abiding Americans of their firearms, a critical issue for rural voters, especially men. Both Harris and Walz are gun owners and advocate for sensible gun safety measures.
However, Bream highlighted Walz's evolution on gun policy, noting his previous "A" rating from the NRA as a moderate House Democrat and contrasting it with his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. She also referenced Harris’ 2019 comments about supporting a mandatory gun buyback program for assault weapons.
Walz downplayed Harris' remarks, asserting that concepts such as mandatory home searches or gun buybacks are not part of their campaign’s platform.
“Yeah, no one's talking about that,” Walz stated, recalling his recent pheasant hunting outing in Minnesota with "conservative" friends regarding firearm policies. “I will defend the Second Amendment. And there's nothing that we're proposing, whether it's extremist risk protection orders or background checks, that will stop you from owning that,” he added.
“So look, no one's coming for your guns. I continue to buy them. The vice president is a gun owner, so many of your viewers are," Walz clarified. "But they also are concerned that we don't need to see our children shot in schools.”
Additionally, Walz sought to clarify earlier statements about the limitations of free speech concerning hate speech and misinformation, affirming his belief that the First Amendment “is foundational” while criticizing GOP attempts to ban certain books in schools. He also reiterated that Harris and the campaign do not support abolishing the Electoral College, despite his previous remark at a California fundraiser indicating that it "needs to go."
Vance also made an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” where he reaffirmed his stance on the 2020 election results by refusing to state that Trump lost.
“I have been asked this question 10 times in the past couple of weeks,” Vance said during a challenging exchange with ABC’s Martha Raddatz. “Of course, Donald Trump and I believe there were problems in 2020.”
James del Carmen for TROIB News
