Fact-checking the Vance-Walz debate. And, Biden to assess N.C. after Hurricane Helene

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NPR's senior political editor/correspondent Domenico Montanaro joins the newsletter today to break down the vice presidential debate:

There will be plenty for partisans on both sides to feel good and not so great about in this debate between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz. It likely won’t move the needle in this campaign, but here are some takeaways from an interesting night:

1. Will the real JD Vance please stand up? Vance has been a hard-charging MAGA warrior but on Tuesday showed up as someone more agreeable. Will people buy it?
2. Walz was clearly less polished and more nervous on the national stage. He started off weakly, but was on better footing when talking about domestic issues, especially abortion, health care and Jan. 6.
3. Vance laid bare that he believes people should not trust experts, only Trump. The decline in trust for expertise and the inability for people to agree on a shared set of facts has been one of the biggest problems in American politics in last decade.
4. There were plenty of potentially explosive topics that weren’t brought up: childless cat ladies, military service, Ukraine and COVID.
5. Does Trump reconsider another debate? Will he really want to let Vance have the last word in front of the last big TV audience?

NPR fact- checked last night's the debate in real time. Here’s what we found.

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