VP debate moderators mute mics after Vance argues with fact checking
(This story has been updated to add information.)
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance's microphone was temporarily muted Tuesday night by CBS News during the debate after a fact-check erupted into an argument.
The tiff between Vance and moderator Margaret Brennan came after a line of questioning over immigration, during which Vance brought up misleading claims regarding Haitian migrants in an Ohio city.
After both Vance and Tim Walz answered questions in the allotted time and used their 60-second follow-ups, Brennan issued a live fact-check before moving on to the next set of questions, as her fellow moderator Norah O'Donnell did after discussions about climate change.
"And just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protective status," Brennan said. As she attempted to move on and pass questioning to O'Donnell, Vance interrupted, repeatedly saying "Margaret" as she tried to continue, then referenced the debate's fact-check rules.
Fact Check: What Tim Walz, JD Vance got right (and wrong) in VP debate
"The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check, and since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on.” Vance said. He then went on for roughly 20 seconds describing the Customs and Border Protection's phone application process for migrants arriving at the southern U.S.-Mexico border. One of the application's uses is for migrants to apply for appointments to present their asylum claims to officials at specific ports-of-entry.
Following President Joe Biden's executive order in June that prevents migrants from seeking asylum at the southern border when crossings surge, the CBP One application has been one of the few ways migrants can pursue asylum claims. Each day the application has 1,450 appointments available throughout eight land ports-of-entry.
Once migrants snag an appointment — a notoriously difficult task due to high demand and a history of technical glitches — they have an initial meeting with a border agent to verify their identity and go through initial security checks. If they pass, migrants can be allowed into the country temporarily on parole and given a Notice to Appear before an immigration judge and present their asylum claim at a later date.
Vance's interruptions prompted a brief rebuttal from Walz before both mics were cut, after which moderator and CBS News journalist Brennan moved on.
"Gentlemen, the audience can't hear you because your mics are cut," Brennan said over the sound of inaudible talking. "We have so much we want to get to. Thank you for explaining the legal process."
Unlike the microphone rules in the presidential debate last month, Vance and Walz have 'hot mics' during their 90-minute debate, meaning microphones were not automatically muted between answers. However, in rules from CBS News both campaigns agreed to, moderators do have the ability to cut off microphones when they deem it necessary.
What are the other 'CBS News Vice Presidential Debate' rules?
According to CBS News, both campaigns have agreed to and accepted the following rules for the debate:
There will be 90 minutes of debate time, with two breaks of four minutes each.
There will be no audience.
The two moderators, Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan, will be seated and will be the only ones asking questions of the candidates.
Candidates will stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate, Gov. Walz on stage left/screen right and Sen. Vance on stage right/screen left.
Candidates will have two minutes for closing statements. A virtual coin toss was held on Sept. 26. Sen. Vance won and elected to go second with his closing statement.
Candidates will be introduced by the moderators in order of incumbent party.
No props or pre-written notes will be allowed on stage.
No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates.
Campaign staff may not interact with candidates during breaks.
Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.
Event space will be available for staff and candidate walk-throughs to be scheduled in advance.
Lights will indicate time left, with numeric countdown: green until 15 seconds; solid yellow until five seconds; flashing red at five seconds; solid red at zero.
CBS News reserves the right to turn off candidate microphones.
Moderators will seek to enforce timing agreements.
For each question, the candidate asked the question will get two minutes to answer and the other candidate will get two minutes to respond. Then, each candidate gets one minute for further rebuttals. At the discretion of the moderators, candidates may get an additional minute each to continue a discussion.
USA TODAY's Gabe Hauari contributed to this report.
Kathryn Palmer is an elections fellow for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @KathrynPlmr.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: During VP debate, moderators cut mics after fact-check tussle