How the Media Covered the VP Debate

Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio faced Democrat Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota in a vice presidential debate on CBS News (Lean Left bias). How did media across the bias spectrum cover the debate in real time?

Live Feeds: Many outlets, including Breitbart (Right) and New York Times (Lean Left), issued commentary and fact checks through the night.

• Breitbart described Vance as "ripping" and "dismantling" Democratic candidate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on several issues, and said the moderators at one point "cut to commercial to bail the flailing Walz out," insinuating CBS treated the Democrat preferentially.
• In less sensational terms, New York Times described Vance's performance as strong and said Walz appeared "at times nervous and halting" but "found his footing late" on questions about Trump's actions surrounding the 2020 election.
• While Breitbart included several X posts celebrating Vance's performance as a clear-cut victory, New York Times reported watch party attendants in Georgia didn't see the debate as a "tiebreaker."

Reader Polls: Other websites gathered responses for what they called "unscientific polls" open to anyone on the internet; these polls are not reliable measures of the true balance of opinion among all viewers.

• NJ.com (Lean Left) included a reader poll below commentary that said Vance was "grilled" for "horrible lies" and "flip-flopping." As of 8:10 a.m. EST on Wednesday, 60% said Vance won, while 34% said Walz won.
• In contrast, a poll from the Baltimore Sun (Center) linked to a separate commentary page which decisively declared Vance the winner. As of 8:10 a.m. EST on Wednesday, 55% said Vance won, while 45% said Walz won.

Swing Voter Commentary: Washington Post (Lean Left) asked a group of 23 "uncommitted swing-state voters," balanced equally among those leaning toward Trump and toward Harris, to assess statements made by Vance and Walz during the debate. For each statement, respondents were visually grouped by agreement or disagreement, and a handful of commentary anecdotes were printed. Most anecdote choices were balanced, but some disproportionately favored Walz:

• Though 59% said Vance did better on climate, three of the four anecdotes were positive for Walz.
• Only 18% agreed with Vance that abortion law should be left to states — his worst-performing statement — but of the six anecdotes published, none agreed with Vance.
• While 64% of respondents thought Vance won the debate, only two of the seven anecdotes held that position.