Senator JD Vance has spoken about his favorite moment from Tuesday night’s debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and said he believes the former president did enough to take the edge over her.
In what proved to be a fiery encounter, Harris and Trump battled it out on issues such as immigration, abortion and the economy. While many believe Harris got the better of her opponent over the course of the 90-minute encounter, the former president landed a few blows that are now being celebrated by his supporters and political allies.
Trump’s running mate spoke to Fox News’s Sean Hannity following the debate, poking fun at Harris’ apparent imitation of several Trump-Vance policy proposals over the course of the campaign.
JD Vance speaks during Turning Point Action’s Chase the Vote campaign event at Generation Church in Mesa, Arizona, on September 4, 2024. Vance spoke to Fox News about his “favorite moment” from the night.
Rebecca Noble/AFP via Getty Images
“Now she’s acting like Donald Trump, she’s about to put on a MAGA hat,” Vance said, referring to the former president’s campaign slogan and signature red hat, and appearing to reference a quip made by the former president during the debate.
Trump, pointing out the apparent shift in Harris’ policy positions over the past few years, said: “Everything that she believed three years ago and four years ago is out the window. She’s going to my philosophy now. In fact, I was going to send her a MAGA hat.”
As Vance brought up the remark, Sean Hannity interjected to say: “It was a good line,” to which Vance responded: “It was my favorite moment of the debate.”
Both Trump and Vance have accused the Harris-Walz campaign of copying their economic policies.
During an August rally in Nevada, Harris promised to eliminate taxes on tips, a proposal made by Trump two months prior.
Similarly, in mid-August, Harris appeared to one-up Vance’s proposal to raise the child tax credit from the current $2,000 to $5,000 per child, suggesting a few days later that the credit should be increased to $6,000 per child for the first year after birth and $3,600 per year each year after that.
“She is a radical who is trying to run towards Donald Trump’s positions because she knows that’s what’s popular, but it’s not what she actually believes,” the Ohio senator added.
A scene from the debate at the National Constitution Center on September 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. During the debate, Trump said that he would “send her a MAGA hat.”
Alex Brandon/AP Photo
Earlier in the discussion with Fox, Vance listed the issues on which Harris has been accused of “flip-flopping” over the course of her political career, relating to climate change, law and order and immigration.
“She supported banning fracking, she supported defunding the police, she supported opening the border,” Vance said. “And I think that, though the moderators didn’t do their job, I think President Trump did do his job in reminding the American people that she has taken a number of radical positions that, as he jokes, she’s run away from.”
Harris defended her changing stances during an August 29 sit-down interview with CNN‘s Dana Bash, saying that while her positions have shifted, her values themselves “have not changed.”
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