‘The View’ Host Admits Walz ‘Dropped the Ball’ During VP Debate: ‘Wasn’t in Fight Mode’

“The View” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said Wednesday that Gov. Tim Walz “dropped the ball” during the vice presidential debate by failing to check Sen. JD Vance.

“I honestly thought Tim Walz had the rockier night from a performance and delivery perspective,” Griffin said, although he argued that Vance’s difficulty answering a question about Jan. 6 at the end of the debate was the most painful part of the evening was.

Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz faced off Tuesday in a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News and moderated by moderators Margaret Brennan and Norah O’Donnell.

“I think JD Vance was strategic about making ‘Midwestern Nice’ to disarm Tim Walz. And Tim Walz kind of took the bait so he wasn’t in fight mode. “He could have done some fact checking to see that he dropped the ball further,” Griffin said.

JD VANCE reminds CBS hosts of debate rules after they try to fact-check him

“That meant he was missing out on opportunities. I thought the Tiananmen Square moment, just say you overrated it. It wasn’t his strongest moment,” Griffin said.

Moderators confronted Walz on his claim that he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets are now reporting that Walz actually only traveled to China in August of this year.

“Look, I grew up in a small rural town in Nebraska, a town of 400 people. A city where you rode bikes with your friends until the street lights came on, and I’m proud of that service. At 17, I joined the National Guard and worked on family farms, and then I used the GI Bill to become a teacher. My first year I had the opportunity to travel to China – 35 years ago to do this,” Walz said.

Walz said he was a “knucklehead” at times as he tried to explain the discrepancy before Brennan hit back and asked him again to answer the question.

“All I said was that I got there that summer and I made a mistake,” Walz said. “So, I’ll just – that’s what I said. I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests, went there and learned a lot about what you need to do in governance.””

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Griffin added, “I thought Josh Shapiro or Pete Buttigieg would have wiped the floor with JD Vance.”

However, she also said that Vance wasn’t being authentic and the other co-hosts agreed.

“I found moments where I thought, ‘Wow, I really want to believe that he’s showing compassion and compassion for Walz, but I just remember the guy who insulted cat ladies,'” Griffin said.

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Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.