Vice Presidential Debate Fact Check: Examining Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance’s claims on immigration, abortion and more

NEW YORK CITY – In the first and only vice presidential debate of the 2024 election, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio Senator JD Vance are going head-to-head over the country’s most pressing issues.

With just over 30 days until Election Day, the debate period offers both candidates an opportunity to appeal to undecided voters and help solidify the Democratic and Republican platforms.

The high-stakes, 90-minute debate takes place Tuesday at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City.

As Walz and Vance campaign for a White House led by Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, respectively, ABC News is live fact-checking their statements for answers that are exaggerated, need more context or are incorrect.

WALZ CLAIM: Governor Walz said: “The people closest to Donald Trump said he is unfit for the highest office. This is Senator Vance.”

FACT CHECK: TRUE

Vance has changed his view of Trump since he first came to prominence. Early in his career, Vance made a series of derogatory comments toward Trump. The specific comment Walz appears to be referring to here comes from a 2016 New York Times op-ed that Vance wrote before the publication of his book “Hillbilly Elegy.” In the editorial, Vance wrote: “Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”

In the years since the op-ed was published, Vance said his views on Trump have changed.

-Allison Pecorin from ABC News

VANCE CLAIM: Senator Vance said, “We have 20, 25 million illegal immigrants here in the country.”

FACT CHECK: INCORRECT

During Biden’s term, immigration officials have encountered immigrants crossing the U.S. border illegally about 10 million times. If “refugees” – people who are not stopped by border officials – are taken into account, the number rises to around 11.6 million.

But encounters do not necessarily mean acceptance. Encounters represent events, so a person attempting to cross the border twice counts for two encounters. Not everyone you meet is allowed into the country either.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates that about 4.2 million encounters resulted in expulsions or deportations. U.S. Department of Homeland Security data shows that about 3.9 million people were released into the U.S. under Biden’s administration to await immigration court hearings.

-Maria Ramirez Uribe of PolitiFact

VANCE CLAIM: Vance said Iran received “over $100 billion…thanks to the Kamala Harris administration.”

FACT CHECK: INCORRECT

Under President Barack Obama, Iran actually took possession of $100 billion in unfrozen assets after the signing of the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump later withdrew.

But Harris was not involved in the Obama administration. In August 2023, the US announced an agreement with Iran to secure the release of five US citizens imprisoned in the country in exchange for Iran gaining access to $6 billion of its own funds that had been frozen in South Korean banks .

The money consisted of Iranian oil revenues that had been frozen since 2019, when Trump imposed a ban on Iranian oil exports and sanctions on the banking sector.

The agreement also included the release of five Iranians held in US prisons.

In April 2024, Deputy Finance Minister Wally Adeyemo said that these funds were frozen again following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 and did not reach Iran.

-Louis Jacobson of PolitiFact