Alyssa Farah Griffin says Tim Walz 'dropped the ball' during VP debate resulting in 'rockier' performance

WASHINGTON, DC: Alyssa Farah Griffin, co-host of 'The View', shared her thoughts on Governor Tim Walz's performance during the vice presidential debate with Senator JD Vance.

Griffin expressed that the Democratic vice presidential candidate missed opportunities to challenge Vance on key points during the debate, hosted by CBS News.

Alyssa Farah Griffin says Tim Walz 'dropped the ball' in debate with JD Vance

While Alyssa Farah Griffin acknowledged some weak moments for JD Vance, she believed Tim Walz struggled more during the debate.

"I honestly thought from a performance and delivery perspective Tim Walz had the rockier night," Griffin stated of Walz about missing critical moments to fact-check Vance.

Despite this, she mentioned that Vance's response to a question about January 6 stood out as the most memorable part of the night.

"There were some fact checks he could have done that he dropped the ball on," Griffin added, suggesting what Walz could have countered more effectively.

She further observed that Vance’s approach was calculated, adding, "I think JD Vance strategically went in to do 'Midwestern nice' to disarm Tim Walz. And Tim Walz kind of took the bait, so he wasn’t in fighting mode."

Tim Walz faces scrutiny over Tiananmen Square comments

During the debate, moderators questioned Tim Walz about a past statement where he claimed to be in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

According to Minnesota Public Radio, Walz didn’t travel to China until August of that year. 

"All I said on this was, as I got there that summer and misspoke on this," Walz spoke of the discrepancy.

He described himself as a "knucklehead" while explaining the situation but reaffirmed his presence in China during the protests.

Walz tried to clarify his earlier remarks by saying "I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests, went in and, from that, I learned a lot of what needed to be in governance," Fox News noted.

Alyssa Farah Griffin compares Tim Walz to other Democrats

In reflecting on the debate, Alyssa Farah Griffin speculated that Democrats such as Josh Shapiro or Pete Buttigieg may have performed better against JD Vance.

"I was thinking that Josh Shapiro or Pete Buttigieg would have been wiping the floor with JD Vance," she said.

However, she also noted that Vance’s performance lacked sincerity, saying, "I found moments where I was like wow, I really want to believe that he's empathetic and feeling for Walz, but I just remember the guy insulting cat ladies."

"The guy who may be will say, he has sympathy for Tim Walz's son but did not have sympathy for Asian migrant children who are being targetted in their schools, and the lies he has spread," Griffin added.