Trump Betrays Where His Attention Really Is During VP Debate (And It's Totally 'Weird')
Donald Trump watched the vice-presidential debate on October 1 with great interest. He needed his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, to make a good showing and convince the voting public they were the best team to run the country. But as usual, his attention was directed toward himself: On his Truth Social account, the former president wrote, "JD is steady and strong, Tampon Tim is sweating bullets, he is nervous and 'weird.'" This was yet another example of Trump's thin-skinned insecurity over being called "just weird" by Tim Walz months earlier.
He continued his I'm-rubber-you're-glue strategy in subsequent posts, using insults that have been directed toward him in the past. "Tampon Tim is babbling and not making any sense!" Trump snarked, disregarding the many times he's been criticized for his "word salad" ramblings in his rally speeches. He also criticized Walz's frequent note-taking at the podium, saying, "Why can't Walz just remember what he has to say? Low IQ!" Yet Vance, his own VP pick, has not been a past fan of Trump and has jabbed at his intelligence, calling him "an idiot" in a past tweet (per PBS).
Some viewers still thought JD Vance was the weird one
Unlike the first presidential debate, which got even worse when Jill Biden escorted her husband Joe off the stage, the vice presidential debate was a lively toe-to-toe between JD Vance and Tim Walz. The online discussion surrounding the debate was lively, as well. Many praised Vance's polished look (other than his weird pink tie) and smooth delivery but added there wasn't much substance behind the image. "JD Vance is every rich kid you wanted to beat the crap out of in every John Hughes movie," summed up one commenter on X (formerly Twitter). Another harsh critic was Mary Trump, niece of the former president. "Is anyone keeping track of the number of lies from JD Vance here?" she tweeted. "What is the number up to?" Political commentator Brian Krassenstein highlighted one section of the debate: "WOW! Tim Walz just asked J.D. Vance straight up if Trump lost the 2020 election and Vance refused to answer." (Instead, Vance talked about being "focused on the future.")
Vance's supporters on X were convinced the senator was the ultimate winner. Some pointed out that Walz did, indeed, seem "weird" at times. Said one: "Walz's panicked looks at the camera/moderators is absolutely delicious!!" Another added, "Walz is getting red in the face."
Regardless of who gave the stronger performance, it can be safely said this is the first debate in American history that included the adjectives "whack-a-mole" and "knucklehead." Now that's weird.