Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz kicked off his debate against Ohio Sen. JD Vance on shaky footing when he was first asked about his foreign policy platform in the Middle East.
“Governor Walz, if you were the final voice in the Situation Room, would you support or oppose a preemptive strike by Israel on Iran?” CBS’ Margaret Brennan asked Walz on Tuesday evening in New York City during the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate.
Walz thanked the moderators for hosting him before delivering a halting and stammering answer while calling for “steady leadership.”
“Iran, our I, Israel’s ability to be able to defend itself is absolutely fundamental. Getting its hostages back, fundamental. And ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But the expansion of Israel and its proxies is an absolute fundamental necessity for the United States to have to steady leadership there. You saw it experienced today where along with our Israeli partners and our coalition, able to stop the incoming attack,” Walz responded, taking a few pauses between words.
ISRAEL UNDER ATTACK: IRAN LAUNCHES MISSILES, GUNMEN KILL AT LEAST 8 NEAR TEL AVIV
Earlier Tuesday, Iran launched more than 100 ballistic missiles at Israel. War broke out in Israel nearly one year ago on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched attacks on the nation.
“What’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter. It’s clear. And the world saw it on that debate stage a few weeks ago, a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need in this moment,” Walz continued.
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Walz continued his response by taking shots at former President Donald Trump and his former administration officials.
“His chief of staff, John Kelly, said that he was the most flawed human being you’d ever met. And both of his secretaries of defense and his national security advisers said he should be nowhere near the White House. Now, the person closest to them… said he’s unfit for the highest office. That was Sen. Vance,” Walz said, referring to Vance’s previous criticisms of Trump before he was elected to the White House in 2016.
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Walz summed up his first response by arguing Vice President Kamala Harris has shown “steady leadership” on the world stage.
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“What we’ve seen out of Vice President Harris is we’ve seen steady leadership. We’ve seen a calmness that is able to be able to draw on the coalitions, to bring them together understanding, that our allies matter. When our allies see Donald Trump turn towards Vladimir Putin, turn towards North Korea, when we start to see that type of fickleness around holding the coalitions together, we will stay committed. And as the vice president said today, we will protect our forces and our allied forces, and there will be consequences,” he continued.