An “overwhelming majority” of focus group members told CNN that they thought Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) won Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, telling reporters that the Ohio Republican’s confidence and swagger was evident in a much-hyped debate that took the wind out of Tim Walz’s sails.

The virtual panel of 15 swing state voters largely agreed that Vance commanded the two-hour debate. One participant called the Trump running mate “battle tested and very ready” to serve as the next vice president. “You can just see that he went to Yale,” the man told the CNN host. “He’s very intelligent, and he reassured a lot of people.” The panel, convened by pollster Frank Luntz, served as vindication that Sen. Vance’s preparations heading into Tuesday night paid off.

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Another applauded Vance for maintaining a “strong control of the facts,” including in one testy interaction where he chided Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris for abusing Americans’ First Amendment rights when the administration pressured social media companies to ban or blacklist users who spoke out about pandemic lockdown mandates. “He ran the whole show,” another surmised while a third added, “He remained steady during the whole performance, and I was very impressed with him being very sincere and authentic.”

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A snap poll conducted by Politico in the hours after the debate shows Republicans and Democrats drawn into their respective corners when asked who won the night. CNN’s panel suggests that Vance may have over-performed in converting undecided voters who tuned into the first and only debate between the two running mates. And it certainly didn’t help that Walz struggled through most of the night to keep his composure: he tripped over basic one-liners including one where he attempted to empathize with the victims of school shooters; instead, the Minnesota governor blurted out, “I’ve become friends with school shooters.” The father of a young woman killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting replied online, “My daughter was killed in the Parkland school shooting. It’s absolutely abhorrent that Tim Walz has befriended school shooters. Disqualifying.”

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On Truth Social, President Trump appeared to be enjoying his running mate’s performance. Throughout the contest, he posted several memes, one suggesting Harris chose Walz because he is “dumber” than herself. Another shows former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), a prolific stock trader, shouting into a phone, “Sell Walz, buy Vance.” He congratulated CNN pollster Frank Luntz for putting together the focus group.

 

Walz’s difficulty in front of the camera dovetails with Vice President Harris’s struggle to capture undecided swing state voters. Following President Joe Biden’s June 27th debate with President Trump, a focus group shared similar antipathies about Harris’s fitness for office. Some accused her of “hiding” President Joe Biden’s mental decline in office.

“She also helped keep him in where he’s at right now, and if he really is as bad as what they’ve been saying, I think if he steps down as president, and she steps into the presidency before the end of his term, it almost makes me question a little bit more why it didn’t happen sooner. She’s worked with him. She’s been, to my understanding, with him daily, or at least a couple of days a week,” one voter said at the time.

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