Former Harris Advisor Complains About Walz’s ‘Niceties’ Towards Vance
MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend criticized Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., for being too agreeable with his opponent Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, during the vice presidential debate on Tuesday. She argued that if Walz and Vance have so much in common, it’s a mystery why voters wouldn’t support the Republican ticket.
“Debates are about performance, and they are about policy. And why this debate was very important is that there are many Americans out there, not just moderate Republicans, there are base Democratic voters that are saying they want to and need to hear more. Now, I think it is very fair for people to want to criticize those base Democratic voters who say, ‘Well, what more do you need?’ You can do that. But that is their lived reality, and so if you are trying to win their votes, you have to meet them where they are,” she said.
She went on to argue that both candidates were strategically putting on a dishonest performance. “I fully believe that Gov. Walz went out there tonight and did what was practiced in debate prep, did what the strategy was that the team put together. That was not the Gov. Walz that we — that I had seen out on the campaign trail. That’s not the Gov. Walz that I had seen during the veepstakes, right?” she said.
Sanders-Townsend also took aim at the CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margret Brennan, suggesting they did not adequately challenge the candidates. “That’s not the Margaret and Norah that I know Margaret don’t do that on Sunday morning,” she said.
After the debate, Walz was criticized for coming off as nervous and not as polished as Vance. “I think JD Vance strategically went in to do ‘Midwestern nice’ to disarm Tim Walz. And Tim Walz kind of took the bait so he wasn’t in fighting mode. There were some fact checks he could have done that he dropped the ball on,” “The View” host Alyssa Farrah Griffin said.
