Black group chats were blowing up last night during the only vice presidential debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Walz. Some might say the debate showcased a tale of two different Americas, one progressive and one regressive, but that’s not exactly why Black America took to the social media app X to express their frustrations.
Folks tuned in expecting Vance to be Trump’s attack dog and be as brazen and disrespectful as he has been in past interviews. Instead, he traded that in for a calmer, more civil demeanor that no one was expecting. But unlike Kamala Harris during her debate with Trump, Walz put on the kid gloves when debating Vance when many believed it should have been the total opposite.
If Black Twitter truly is a reflection of how we feel, then Black folks were not feeling Walz.
For example, one user, @PrestonMitchum, shared their perspective on why some viewers were disappointed by what they saw. “We had too high expectations for Walz. We had too low expectations for Vance,” Mitchum wrote. “That’s why many people are viewing the debate this way tonight.”
Another user, @rodimusprime, gave a deeper analysis of what Walz needed to stop doing with all of his pleasantries and call out Vance on the lies he’s been telling.
“Walz not going personal on Vance is hurting him IMO,” he remarked. “He’s being TOO nice by not directly calling out his lies and flip flops. Just pointing out Trump isn’t enough.”
When the topic of Haitian immigrants inevitably came up during the debate, Walz did call Vance out for spreading racist lies about the group being a threat to Springfield, Ohio. The CBS debate moderators mentioned that the immigrants had every right to be there, which led @KamieCrawford to repeatedly tweet: “THE HAITIANS IN SPRINGFIELD, OH ARRIVED LEGALLY.”
What was frustrating for Kamala supporters was that Vance’s lies last night were and have been plentiful. For example, he said Trump “peacefully gave over power on Jan. 20,” and said Vice President Kamala Harris “became the appointed border czar,” and that Trump could have destroyed Obamacare and that Harris did not invest in climate policy.
Perhaps the strategy from the Harris/Biden campaign was to stay calm and affable even though it clearly backfired. However, author, politician and political commentator Bakari Sellers summed up the debate by reminding folks of who Walz is.
“The funny thing about this debate is ppl want Walz to slap Vance around BUT that’s not who he is...he politely calls him a liar and moves on,” Sellers stated. “Walz is truly a nice guy.”
The Black consensus is that Walz was too nice against his opponent and that his civility only aided in Vance’s dangerous lies.