CNN anchors walked away from Tuesday night's debate with the impression that both Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz came to do what they set out to do — with one anchor saying Vance succeeded in "laundering Trumpism."
Following the debate in New York City, anchor Jake Tapper noted to fellow anchors Abby Phillip and Dana Bash that both men set out to — and possibly "achieved" — their task of "seeming likable."
Bash called it a "rehab debate" for the respective images of Vance and Walz.
"Certainly that was the case for J.D. Vance, that was his goal, of trying to rehab his image. And more importantly the image for the guy at the top of the ticket."
Even so, she suggested the debate may not matter to voters at the end of the day.
Bash pointed out as evidence that the candidates and their wives were seen chatting at the debate.
"That was not something we saw anything close to at the presidential debate," she said.
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Phillip said that while the debate appeared civil, they shouldn't lose sight that Vance "came to this debate to land a bunch of punches."
"And he did. He landed a lot of punches and between all the niceties and all of that," said Phillip.
What stood out to Phillip, she said, was that Walz "did not seem prepared."
"He didn't respond to a lot of the criticisms and attacks that Vance put on the table. He allowed some clear falsehoods to just go completely unanswered. He allowed J.D. Vance essentially to dodge on a whole host of issues. On climate change. On the issue of his flip-flopping on Donald Trump. He allowed Vance initially to claim Trump salvaged the Affordable Care Act. It took him several sentences for him to get to his answer."
"I think there was a clear lack of preparation and execution on Tim Walz's part," said Phillip
But Bash opined it may be the opposite.
"I think he had too much preparation," said Bash. "He had so many lines that he was clearly trying to say that he didn't listen."
Bash said Walz's performance suffered due to a "lack of interviews" with national and local media outlets.
Tapper agreed and said Vance is much more experienced at public speaking, pivoting and defending himself.
Phillip later added that J.D Vance’s job on Tuesday night was to "launder Trumpism, and noted he didn’t receive a lot of "pushback" from Walz on stage.
Watch the clip below or at this link.