Fact-checking the VP debate: Walz and Vance's contested statements

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance faced off Tuesday in their first and only vice presidential debate.

But both brought up claims that were nothing new.

Here’s a look at some of those claims and States Newsroom’s assessment of the facts:

CLAIM: Walz said Vance called his running mate, former President Donald Trump, unfit for the office of the presidency.

THE FACTS: True. Vance said it in a New York Times op-ed in 2016. The Washington Post reported that as recently as 2020 Vance criticized the Trump administration’s record, saying Trump “thoroughly failed to deliver.”

Nevertheless, from the earliest stages of his U.S. Senate campaign in 2022, Vance described and defended his change of heart. At a campaign event in January that year, he said, “I’m not gonna hide from the fact that I did not see Trump’s promise in the beginning but you know, he delivered,” Vance said. “He delivered, and he cared about people. And I think that’s important. It’s important (to) change your mind.”

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CLAIM: Vance argued schools, hospitals and housing in Springfield, Ohio, are overwhelmed or unaffordable “because we brought in millions of illegal immigrants.” He added American citizens in Springfield have “had their lives destroyed by Kamala Harris’s open border.”

THE FACTS: Vance and Trump have been the driving force behind several smears of the Haitian community in Springfield. Although the population influx has strained resources, state and local officials – some of them Republicans – have rejected Vance’s false characterization of the Haitian people living there.

Those migrants are primarily in the country legally under a program called Temporary Protected Status. It offers work authorization for people who would face danger in their home countries, and has been in place since 1990.

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CLAIM: In response to moderator Norah O’Donnell asking about Donald Trump’s claim that Walz supports abortions “in the ninth month,” Walz said “In Minnesota, what we did was restore Roe v. Wade.”

THE FACTS: Minnesota Democrats, with Walz’s support, passed a bill in 2023 enshrining Minnesota’s existing abortion protections into law after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the nationwide right the year before. Abortion had already been protected under a 1995 state Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing women the right to an abortion.

The 2023 bill modified some language governing care requirements for infants “born alive” following an abortion procedure, but the law still states that any such infants “shall be fully recognized as a human person.” Abortions during the third trimester typically only happen in the case of severe fetal abnormalities or threats to the health of the mother.

There is no gestational limit on abortions under Minnesota law, but data from the state Department of Health shows that only one or two abortions per year happen at any point in the third trimester. More than 90% of abortions in the state happen during the first trimester.

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CLAIM: Vance argued he and Trump would pursue “pro-family” policies and make fertility treatment more accessible. He also stated he never favored a national abortion ban, but rather described his position as “setting some minimum national standard.”

THE FACTS: Vance has repeatedly insisted he supports access to in vitro fertilization treatment, but he voted against a Senate measure to establish protections for it in June and skipped the vote when it came up again in September.

Vance’s framing of his position – minimum standards versus a ban – is little more than semantics. During his 2022 Senate campaign, he expressed support for a bill cutting off access to abortion anywhere in the country after 15 weeks.

“You can have some minimum national standards, which is my view,” he said, “while allowing the states to make up their minds. California is going to have a different view than Ohio, that’s totally fine.”

Under that proposal states would be able to set abortion policies more restrictive than that 15-week cut off.

Vance was unwilling in that 2022 campaign to embrace the typical exceptions of rape, incest or the life of the mother.

“An incest exception looks different at three weeks of pregnancy versus 39 weeks of pregnancy,” he said.

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CLAIM: On paid family leave, Walz said “We implemented it in Minnesota and we see growth.”

THE FACTS: In 2023, Walz signed Minnesota’s family and medical leave bill into law. The bill creates a state-run insurance program guaranteeing up to 20 weeks paid time off per year to deal with family or medical issues. The program is funded, in part, by a new tax on employers and employees.

However the law will not take force until 2026, and certain details — including the final payroll rate — are still being ironed out by state regulators. The effect on Minnesota’s economy remains unknown, although many studies have shown that paid leave requirements in other states and countries increase womens’ workforce participation and boost economic growth.

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CLAIM: Vance claimed illegal immigration is driving up the cost of housing and alluded to a Federal Reserve study that drew a link between the two.

THE FACTS: Vance posed the idea to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell himself in July. Powell expressed skepticism at the time, noting in the long run, immigration likely has a neutral impact on inflation, but he acknowledged there may be regional impacts on housing. A pair of Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas studies released that month bolster Powell’s argument. One suggested immigrants boosted the U.S. economy without contributing to inflation; the other noted immigrants “could put upward pressure on rents and house prices, particularly in the short run before new supply can be built.”

There doesn’t appear to be a Federal Reserve study drawing a bright line between immigration in housing prices. If anything, University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers argued last May that the relationship between those variables is the opposite of what Vance suggested.

Housing experts have consistently said that an ongoing shortage in housing supply has driven up costs.

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CLAIM: Walz was asked to explain the discrepancy between his account of being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and recent reporting showing he wasn’t there until months later.

THE FACTS: Walz acknowledged he was wrong: “I have not been perfect, and I have been a knucklehead at times…. All I said on this was, I got there that summer and misspoke on this. That is what I have said. So, I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests, went in and from that I learned a lot of what needed to be in governance.”