The debate, hosted by CBS News in New York City, could be the last event featuring candidates from both campaigns, as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will not debate again at this time.

Here are five key takeaways from the debate.

It wasn’t really about Vance or Walz

It was immediately clear that the two prominent politicians on stage were merely proxies for their running mates, using the questions as a means to attack their top rivals and on many occasions going out of their way not to attack each other personally.

Walz used his first question, about Iran’s attacks on Israel, on Trump’s age: “An almost 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd size is not what we need right now.” He then attacked “Donald Trump’s erratic leadership” around the world.

Vance responded, “Who has been vice president for the last three and a half years? And the answer is your running mate, not mine. Donald Trump has consistently made the world a safer place.”

In the next part, on climate change, Walz hit Trump again: “Donald Trump called it a hoax and then joked that these things would create more beachfront real estate to invest in.”

On immigration, Vance sidestepped when asked how Trump would fulfill his promise of mass deportation, repeatedly attacking Harris: “I’ve been to the southern border more times than our border czar, Kamala Harris, has.”

Notably, both men said they believed their rival on stage wants to resolve the border issue, as well as other areas of policy disagreement.

“I believe Senator Vance wants to solve this, but by standing behind Donald Trump and not working together to find a solution, it becomes a talking point,” Walz said.

Vance responded, “I actually think I agree with you. I think you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think Kamala Harris does.”

Most of the tension between them came toward the end, when Walz asked Vance point-blank if Trump had lost the 2020 election. Vance did not want to give a straight answer, but asked Walz a question about the censorship of the Covid-19 pandemic on Facebook.

Walz admits he botched the Tiananmen Square story

Walz responded nervously at first before later getting into rhythm. But he stumbled a few times when asked whether he falsely claimed he had visited Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989, when a Minnesota Public Radio report revealed he was indeed there later that year .

Walz initially dodged the question: “I haven’t been perfect, and sometimes I’m an idiot,” he said, giving a long and winding answer about his upbringing and expressing his commitment to the people of Minnesota throughout his career.

When a moderator pointed out, Walz admitted, “I got there that summer and made a mistake.”

It’s the kind of questions that delve into past statements that national political candidates get a lot — but Walz has largely avoided media interviews and therefore hasn’t fielded many questions since becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Vance defends his criticism of previous criticism of Trump

Vance was well prepared with an answer when asked to explain his past criticism of Trump, including saying he could be “America’s Hitler,” and his criticism of Trump’s economic record as president.

“Sometimes, of course, I disagree with the president, but I have also been very open about the fact that I was wrong about Donald Trump. I was wrong in the first place because I believed some media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record,” Vance said, treading ground he and his campaign have talked about in media interviews and responses to stories .

Vance continued, “But most importantly, Donald Trump has taken care of the American people: rising wages, rising take-home pay, an economy that works for normal Americans, a secure southern border… If you mess up, if you make a mistake, if you… you do something wrong, and you change your mind, then you have to be honest with the American people.”

He also partly blamed Congress, saying there were “a lot of things at the border, on the tariff front” that “could have done so much more if the Republican Congress and the Democrats in Congress had been a little bit better in the way they governed the country. .”

Walz and Vance sift through their running mates’ economic data

Walz came equipped with an argument to attack Trump on the economy, which is one of the Republican candidate’s strongest issues, according to polls asking voters they trust most to deal with it.

“Kamala Harris’ first day was Donald Trump’s failure on Covid, which led to the collapse of our economy. Before Covid, we were already in an industrial recession – about 10 million people out of work, the largest percentage since the Great Depression,” Walz said. said.

Vance responded by attacking the Biden-Harris economic record as “horrendous” and defending Trump.

“Honestly, Tim, I think you have a tough job here because you have to play Whac-A-Mole,” he said, accusing Walz of having to “pretend” that Trump’s economy improved wages and had lower inflation.

Walz also attacked Trump on taxes and trade policy.

“If you’re listening tonight and you want billionaires to get tax cuts,” Trump is your candidate, Walz told voters as he looked at the TV screen. “How is it fair that you pay your taxes every year and Donald Trump has paid no federal taxes for the last fifteen years?”

Vance’s revisionist history of Trump’s Obamacare repeal

Vance rewrote the history of Trump’s years-long effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” instead repeating the campaign’s claim that Trump saved it.

“Donald Trump could have destroyed the program. Instead, he worked in a bipartisan manner to ensure Americans had access to affordable care,” Vance said when asked about Trump, saying he has “drafts for a plan” to replace the 2010 health care law.