VP debate live updates: ‘Me too, man,’ Vance, Walz agree they have a lot of ‘commonality’

The vice presidential candidates tonight were surprisingly agreeable with each other.

“I’ve enjoyed tonight’s debate, and I think there was a lot of commonality here,” Walz said towards the end of the debate, to which Vance responded with “Me too, man.”

At least nine distinct times through the night, Walz and Vance said that they agreed with something the other pointed out, from rising housing prices to the need to address school shootings.

— Ece Yildirim

Both Walz and Vance spoke 30 times over the course of tonight’s debate, but Walz got slightly more airtime than his Republican opponent.

The Democrat spoke for 40.6 minutes, while Vance spoke for 38.1 minutes, according to an NBC News tally.

– Josephine Rozzelle

Asked how he would solve the childcare crisis, Vance said “we just don’t have enough resources going into the multiple people who could be providing family care options.”

“Unfortunately, look, we’re going to have to spend more money. We’re going to have to induce more people to want to provide childcare options for American families,” he said. “Because the reason it’s so expensive right now is because you’ve got way too few people providing this very essential service.”

Vance’s answer is similar to the answer he gave to the same question at a Turning Point Action event on Sept. 4, where he emphasized the need to “empower people to get trained in the skills they need for the 21st century.”

He also drew backlash after the event for suggesting that one solution for the childcare crisis might be “grandma and grandpa” helping out “a little bit more.”

– Josephine Rozzelle

Walz is arguing that big businesses approve of paid family and medical leave benefits, despite the various and his overall Minnesota track record.

— Rebecca Picciotto

Walz will begin the day in Harbor Springs, Michigan, where he and his team have been since Saturday, preparing for the debate. He will make his way to New York City in the morning.

Like Harris, Walz did his debate prep in a swing state, seizing the opportunity to log a few extra days in a battleground and potentially earn some goodwill among voters there.

Vance flew from Ohio to New York City on Monday afternoon, ahead of tonight’s debate.

While Harris has no scheduled campaign appearances for the day, Trump has two in Wisconsin. The former president will deliver remarks at 2:30 p.m. ET at a manufacturer in Waunakee, followed by remarks at 6 p.m. ET at Discovery World Science & Technology Museum in Milwaukee.

— Ece Yildirim

Vance and Walz will face off tonight in New York City, a fitting backdrop for a sparring match that could focus on the economy and high cost of living, which consistently rank as voters’ top issues.

New York City is plagued by an ongoing affordability crisis.

As of 2022, the median home price in New York City was $724,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The median household income that year was $72,000. As a result, nearly 70% of the population rent their homes.

The office market has also suffered in the wake of the pandemic as remote work policies hollowed out office buildings, leaving some sectors within commercial real estate crumbling.

Still, home to Wall Street and a burgeoning tech sector, New York City’s five boroughs comprise the largest economy in the state and one of the largest in the world.

— Rebecca Picciotto

The New York Times editorial board has endorsed Harris for president in an opinion piece, calling her “the only patriotic choice for president.”

“It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump,” the editorial board wrote, arguing that the former president is “morally” and “temperamentally unfit” for the role.

The piece also criticized Trump’s criminal charges and older age compared to Harris, as well as “his fundamental lack of interest in policy and his increasingly bizarre cast of associates.”

“A second Trump term would be much more damaging and divisive than the first,” the editorial board wrote.

— Ece Yildirim