As the Teen Vogue staff can attest, the vice presidential debate is the kind of political event that’s really just for “those of us who hate ourselves.” Standing on stage at the CBS Studios in New York on Tuesday night, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio Senator JD Vance spent 90 minutes politely disagreeing about policy.
The debate didn’t inspire the torrent of memes and jaw-dropping moments we saw during September’s exchange between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, when Trump falsely accused Haitian migrants of eating peoples’ pets — a rumor that Vance himself had initially helped popularize. Instead, the VP nominee gave polished Model UN vibes while insisting Harris was responsible for an “open border.” His Democratic opponent declined to go after Vance directly, even ending the debate by saying, “there's a lot of commonality here."
Despite the collegial nature of the conversation, social media brought the memes — many of them focused around the moment when Vance tried to talk over the moderators, prompting CBS to cut his mic. We rounded up the best posts about the VP debate below.
First up: the classic ‘what are any of us doing here’ posts.
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Vance has generated a lot of commentary over his aesthetic choices since becoming Trump's VP, particularly his unwavering commitment to eyeliner. Tonight was no different.
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The most attention-grabbing moment of the night came during the exchange on immigration, when Vance claimed that communities like Springfield, Ohio were “overwhelmed” because “we brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans” for jobs, housing, and spots in schools. Moderator Margaret Brennan broke in to note that the Haitian migrants living in Springfield had protected status and were in the U.S. legally. “The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check,” Vance replied, before trying to interject with more comments about the immigration system. “Thank you, senator, for describing the legal process,” Brennan replied.
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During an exchange about reproductive access, Vance also said a woman “very dear” to him had an abortion, which made him more sympathetic about the issue. “I know she’s watching tonight, and I love you,” he said.
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