CBS contributor says ‘civility’ at the vice presidential debate was a ‘mistake’ for Walz

The civility between the candidates during the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate Tuesday may have been a “mistake” for Democrats, according to a CBS contributor.

Former BET anchor Ed Gordon took part in a CBS News panel discussing the first and only debate between vice presidential candidates Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Shortly after the debate concluded, the panel all remarked on how “cordial” and “surprisingly affable” the debate was.

Gordon suggested the geniality could backfire for Democrats looking for Walz to fight back against Vance.

VANCE, WALZ VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE ENDS WITH BOTH CANDIDATES TOUTING ‘NEW’ FUTURE

“I think that the civility that we saw tonight may be a mistake by Democrats, quite frankly. I talked at the outset of energizing this base. I was just in Ohio, and many Democrats were livid about what’s going on in Springfield,” Gordon said.

He continued, “I think Walz missed an opportunity to really push the racial insensitivity. There was a sense of trying to be affable…I think what we are going to see from this point on is civility being laid aside. And as we’ve said, from this point on, gloves are off, I think.”

There was a contentious moment between Vance and CBS News moderators Margaret Brennan and Norah O’Donnell after they attempted to fact-check Vance’s comments on illegal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. 

“Just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio, does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status,” Brennan said.

This was despite CBS previously announcing that it would not allow its moderators to take part in any live fact-checking or corrections during the debate.

“The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check,” Vance reminded them. “And since you are fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on.”

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The moderators ended up muting his mic before moving on to another topic.

“Senator, we have so much we have to get to, thank you so much for explaining the legal process,” Brennan said.