The most mentioned word by the vice presidential candidates during Tuesday’s debateexcluding routine and common words, was “Trump.”
Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio mentioned former President Donald Trump’s name 66 times in a rigorous defense of his running mate’s record, more than the 44 times he mentioned Vice President Kamala Harris. Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, was more severe in his criticism of Trump, mentioning him 44 times and mentioning Harris’ name 28 times.
Walz took one of his first opportunities on a national stage to talk about his experiences governing Minnesota, mentioning the state’s name 26 times. Vance said “Ohio” five times.
To take a closer look at the vice presidential candidates’ rhetoric, CBS News analyzed the words they used in their only scheduled debate and compared them to the words the presidential candidates used in the September 10 debate. Here’s what we found.
Divide the words by topic
As Trump did during the presidential debate, Vance highlighted the issue of immigration, uttering the word “border” 20 times, which was more than Trump’s 12 mentions.
Seven times, Vance said “millions” of people entered the U.S. illegally. He also echoed Trump’s false claim that the number of undocumented immigrants in the US exceeds 20 million. The actual number is closer to 11 million.
Vance described undocumented immigrants as “aliens” seven times, a term Trump used only once in his debate against Harris.
Walz didn’t use the words “illegal” or “alien” at all, and neither did Harris. Walz responded to questions about immigration by highlighting Trump’s efforts to prevent immigration the bipartisan border bill of passing Congress, by saying “bill” about it eight times.
The vice presidential candidates mirrored their running mates’ approach when it came to language around abortion. Vance said he wanted the US to be more “pro-family” and “pro-baby,” and his rhetoric reflected that. He said “baby” or “family” ten times in the context of abortion.
Like Harris, Walz discussed abortion in terms of women’s rights, saying the word “woman” or “woman” nine times. He also described abortion as “health care” four times, something neither Vance nor Trump did.
When talking about the economyVance concentrated high pricesmentioning “price” ten times and “affordable” or “unaffordable” nineteen times, echoing common criticism of rising prices during the Biden-Harris administration. While inflation spiked during the first two years of Biden’s presidency, it is now at its peak lowest point since March 2021.
Walz’s rebuttals mentioned the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to negotiate drug prices, making six references to “prescription drugs” or “insulin.” During the debate, he also repeatedly emphasized job growth, using the word “jobs” seven times.
The vice presidential candidates also discussed housing, even more so than their running mates. Walz said “house” or “home” 28 times in the context of housing; Vance used those words 26 times.
More time was spent on climate change than during this year’s presidential debates. Vance focused on “energy” and used the word twelve times. He also used the word “clean” eight times when talking about climate. Both candidates said the word “climate” four times, a word Trump did not mention in any of his debates this year.
How the candidates referred to each other and their running mates
In total, Walz and Vance mentioned Trump 110 times; more than double the number of times Harris and Trump mentioned the former president’s name in their debate.
Harris was mentioned by name 72 times, almost always with her full name. Vance sometimes referred to the Biden administration as the Harris administration, while President Biden received only seven mentions overall among vice presidential candidates.
Vance also frequently addressed moderators by name, saying “Margaret” 21 times and “Norah” eight times.
When it came to addressing each other, Vance referred to Walz by his first name, Tim, seventeen times and twenty times by his full name or as “Governor Walz.” Walz referred to his opponent as “Senator Vance” only fifteen times.
