Foreign media outlets are near-unanimous in conceding, sometimes grudgingly, that Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) triumphed over Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) in Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate. There is a consensus that Donald J. Trump’s running mate was “polished,” even “genteel,” and notably non-abrasive. At the same time, Walz—Vice President Kamala Harris’s number two—appeared nervous, faltered initially, and “stumbled” frequently.
ACROSS THE POND.
The BBC said Vance “probably” won the debate, calling the Republican a “polished public speaker” and Walz “halting and unsure.”
The Times of London, Britain’s de facto newspaper of record, gave the nod to Vance in two analyses of the debate. The first, by New York correspondent Will Pavia, is the more damning, describing how the Nebraska-born Democrat “looked staggered,” “distinctly uncomfortable,” and “confused Israel and Iran” out of the gate.
“He kept halting mid-sentence. I wondered if the television was frozen. There was enough time to check, before he started talking again,” Pavia wrote. Sen. Vance, by contrast, was praised for coming off as affable and sympathetic—appearing moments to even win over Gov. Walz.
Similarly, U.S. assistant editor David Charter described Walz as “visibly nervous” and Vance as “self-assured.”
“Despite being vilified by Democrats as a misogynistic opportunist after his comments on ‘childless cat ladies’ running the country, Vance gave a slick performance promoting Trumpism with civility, empathy, and focus,” he admitted.
Walz, in contrast, was again dinged for having “muddled up Iran and Israel” and for having “bumbled through a non-answer that involved admitting he was ‘a knucklehead at times'” when pressed on the fact he lied about being in China during the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph said its experts were “unanimous” Vance had triumphed, observing: “He was not, in the words of Mr Walz in an earlier rally, ‘weird.’ His answers on policy issues were detailed, and he spoke repeatedly about children and families in a way that was designed to appeal to the female voters who are driving Kamala Harris’s poll lead.”
Instead, “It was Mr. Walz, the man picked by Ms. Harris for his folksy Midwestern charm, who came unstuck in front of the cameras,” the newspaper observed: “Stuttering over his words, getting agitated and failing to pick up on some of the most obvious attack lines to use against Mr. Vance, he looked out of his depth on the stage.”
Even the leftist Guardian, heavily invested in boosting the Democratic ticket, admitted Vance “looked the more polished performer.” Walz was again dinged for his Tiananmen Square lie and for botching a question on gun control by saying he “befriended school shooters.”
CANADA AND AUSTRALIA.
Sky News Australia’s coverage of Walz’s performance was damning, with guests saying he had a “horrible start” and is clearly “not ready for prime-time.” Like the Guardian, the Australian broadcaster flagged how “Walz ‘misspoke’ at least three times between 2009 and 2019 saying he was in ‘Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests,” despite not arriving until months after Tiananmen Square.
Other Australian outlets, such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and SBS News, avoided declaring a winner but echoed the language of outlets that did, with Vance “polished” and Walz “nervous.”
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) went further, saying Vance had given audiences “a taste of Trumpism, minus Trump,” making his case “with the fluidity one might expect from a past editor of the Yale Law Review,” while preserving the essence of the America First policy agenda.
Walz was again described as having “stumbled,” suffering “more hiccups than his rival, including the wince-inducing: ‘I’ve become friends with school shooters.'”
CONTINENTAL EUROPE.
Coverage of the vice presidential debate in the European Union (EU) has been muted—suggesting European journalists, who are largely hostile to Trump and Vance, likely believe the Ohio senator had the better night.
Germany’s Die Welt said Vance “appeared confident, remained relaxed, and did not stumble,” presenting himself “as a statesmanlike vice president.”
“Walz, on the other hand, seemed fidgety, often faltering and pursed his lips. The 60-year-old governor from Minnesota often stayed in the same pose for too long, which brought back memories of Joe Biden, who froze in his debate,” the German media outlet added. One of its reports on the debate included the subheading ‘Vance crushes Walz.’
France’s Le Monde tried to claim there was “no clear winner,” suggesting “Vance’s cleverness was so calculated and apparent that it deprived him of naturalness and genuine presence.” There were few such barbed compliments in the assessment of Walz, described as having “got off to a rocky start” and “blatantly clumsy.”
Le Monde suggested that Walz may have fared better if not for the fact he and Harris have studiously avoided giving press interviews for much of the election campaign, leaving him floundering under fire.
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