A Fox News digital focus group of Republicans, Democrats and independents reacted to key moments of the CBS News vice presidential debate between Republican Ohio Senator J.D. Vance and Democratic Minnesota Senator J.D. Vance. Governor Tim Walz On Tuesday night, real-time feedback was offered on the candidates’ statements.
In a focus group conducted by Lee Carter, participants from across the political spectrum used a dial showing their favorable, unfavorable, or neutral reaction to Vance and Walz. Their responses provided insight into how voters who help decide the election feel about the conduct, character and policies of the two men, one of whom will be the next vice president.
Here are some of the most significant voter reactions from Tuesday night’s focus group.
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Vance’s stance on immigration crisis during debate: ‘Stop the bleeding’
Vance argues America needs to “stop the bleeding” on the border There were mixed reactions from voters during Tuesday’s debate.
Vance received mixed reactions when he said, “Before we even talk about deportation, we have to stop the bleeding… We have a historic immigration crisis since Kamala Harris started and said she would stop all of Donald Trump’s border policies. Wanted to undo.”
While Republican views had an immediate positive reaction to Vance’s answers, Democratic viewers of the debate went in the opposite direction, The Dial revealed. Independents, meanwhile, hovered around a neutral response to Vance’s answer.
When Vance spoke, voters began to view his response in a more positive light of former President Trump border policies, arguing that the next administration should handle the border the same way Trump did during his four years in office.
Walz says ‘most of us want to solve the migrant crisis’
Democrats and independents responded moderately to highly favorable to Walz’s response to the migrant crisis and his criticism of the Trump administration.
Walz condemned the bipartisan immigration bill that Trump pushed to kill earlier this year and defended Kamala Harris’s record in California on the issue. Republicans were unfavorable to Walz but independents and Democrats throughout the North gave him high marks.
“Pass the bill, she’ll sign it,” Walz said.
Vance claims he and Donald Trump support ‘clean air, clean water’
Republicans, Democrats and independent voters reacted differently when Vance said he and Trump support “clean air, clean water” when the issue of climate change was raised in the debate.
“Look, a lot of people are justifiably concerned about all these weird weather patterns. I think it’s important for us, first of all, to say that Donald Trump and I support clean air, clean water. We want the environment to be clean and safe,” Vance said.
When Vance made this statement, the Fox News debate dial showed a decline in support among independents and Democrats. Support among Republicans remained fairly consistent.
But support began to grow again among the independent audience when Vance pointed out how Democrats raise the issue of carbon emissions when discussing climate change.
Vance said, “The idea that carbon emissions drove all of climate change. Well, let’s say it’s true just for the sake of argument. So we’re not arguing about weird science. Let’s just say that.” This is true.” “Well, if you believe that, what would you do – would you want to do? The answer is that you would want to restore as much American manufacturing as possible, and you would want to produce as much energy as possible in the United States, because “We are the cleanest economy in the entire world.”
Walz dodges Tiananmen Square question: ‘I get fooled sometimes’
One of Walz’s toughest moments in the debate received poor to moderate reviews across the board from the focus group.
The arbitrators objected to Walz over his prior claim that he was present at the Tiananmen Square protests in Hong Kong in 1989, when he did not travel to Asia until later that year. Walz gave a meandering answer that featured low-level reactions throughout almost the entire commentary from Democrats, Republicans and independents that did not directly address the discrepancy.
At one point, he admitted that he could be a “knucklehead”. Ultimately he admitted that he had spoken wrong.
Walz’s support among Republicans fell to its lowest point – below 10% – when he spoke. Former President Donald Trump He would benefit from attending a trip to China, arguing that Trump would never have befriended Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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Vance claims ‘you’re fact-checking me’ to argue with moderators, mic cut off
Despite CBS’s announcement that it would not allow live fact-checking during the debate, moderator Margaret Brennan intervened to correct Vance when he suggested that illegal immigrants were a drain on public resources. Springfield, Ohio.
Independent and Republican voters rejected the intervention, but independent voters declined significantly when Vance began to clarify his stance.
Vance addresses past criticism of Trump, saying: ‘I was wrong about Donald Trump’
Opinion among independents was mixed, while Republicans were in favor of Vance saying he had been “wrong” about Trump in the past when asked about his past criticism of his running mate.
“At times, sure, I’ve disagreed with the president, but I’ve also been extremely open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump. First of all, I was wrong, because I saw some of the media stories. “His records turned out to be dishonest compositions,” Vance said.
Walz claims abortion is a ‘fundamental human right’
When Walz was asked if he supports abortion By the ninth month Since Minnesota is one of the least restrictive states for abortion, he responded, “The bill doesn’t say that.”
While Republican voters declined significantly while Walz was speaking, independent and Democratic voters remained mostly in the approval zone.
“What we did is to restore roe vs wadeWe made sure that we put women in charge of their health care,” Walz said.
During his speech, the approval of independents decreased slightly while the number of Democratic voters increased. Both eventually agreed and remained in the approval zone.
“It’s a basic human right,” he said later.
Independent voters remained slightly below the Democratic approval line, as Republicans largely disapproved.
Conversation between Walz and Vance after ex’s son witnessed shooting: ‘Christ have mercy’
Vance received a positive response across the board from Democrats, Republicans and Independents when he told Walz he was sorry his son once witnessed the shooting.
The senator told Walz, “I had no idea your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting and I’m sorry.”
“I appreciate it,” Walz said.
“Christ have mercy,” Vance commented.
When Vance was asked if Trump had won the 2020 election, he said he was focused on the future.
When Walz asked them if Trump had lost the 2020 election, independents immediately gave Vance a lower rating than when he said he was focused on the future.
Republicans on the Fox News debate dial were unhappy with Walz’s line of questioning and moved down the dial, approval with Vance’s answers generally remained the same, but Vance’s dismissal of the question led to a sharp decline in the dial of independents and Democrats. I. This is the fastest among independents.
Liberal media pundits played and discussed the clip repeatedly after the debate, saying it was one of Walz’s strongest moments in a night that Vance otherwise controlled.
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Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph, Adam Shaw, Danielle Wallace, Michael Lee, Anders Hagstrom and Timothy H.J. Nerozi contributed to this report.
