Mics cut after Vance says ‘you weren’t going to fact check’ during VP debate

Both vice-presidential candidates had their microphones briefly cut off following a fact-checking fracas during Tuesday’s debate, in one of the evening’s most contentious moments.

JD Vance and Tim Walz kept Tuesday’s debate mostly civil as they squared off on issues of abortion, immigration and the economy, but that Midwestern niceness appeared to dissolve when the topic of Springfield, Ohio, was raised.

Vance, a senator from Ohio, has faced considerable flak in recent weeks for pushing an unfounded narrative that Haitian migrants in Springfield are eating residents’ pets (local officials have said there are no credible reports of this happening). Donald Trump further platformed that narrative during the presidential debate against Kamala Harris. Days later, Springfield was inundated with bomb threats that forced people to evacuate schools and government buildings.

Vance refrained from pushing the pet-eating claim during Tuesday’s debate, but he doubled down on allegations that “illegal immigrants” are overwhelming Springfield’s infrastructure.

“In Springfield, Ohio, and in communities all across this country you’ve got schools that are overwhelmed, you’ve got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you’ve got housing that is totally unaffordable because we’ve brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes,” Vance said.

After Walz responded, CBS moderator Margaret Brennan stepped in to fact check Vance’s statement.

“And just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio, does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status,” Brennan said.

Vance immediately protested the interjection.

“Margaret, the rules were that you weren’t going to fact check,” he said,