VP debate reaction: JD Vance upstages Tim Walz on their big night

Mr Vance challenged the fact-check to criticise the temporary protected status programme that the Haitians in question had used, leading Mr Walz to interject with a defence of the policy. Both men’s microphones were swiftly muted.

Ahead of the debate, CBS said its moderators would urge the candidates to fact-check each other, but said the network’s hosts could also choose to clarify a point if they decided it was left unclear.

Immigration dominated the debate, with Mr Vance accusing Ms Harris of abdicating her responsibilities and claiming he had been to the border more than the sitting vice president.

The Ohio senator went on to promote Trump’s hardline approach of mass deportations and building a border wall as he claimed between 20 and 25million people had entered the country illegally.

Some independent analysis suggests the figure is closer to half that.

Polls show that a majority of Americans rank immigration and border security as top priorities in the White House race and many support more restrictive policies.

Mr Vance went on to link the border crisis to America’s opioid epidemic.

He invoked his own mother’s years-long battle with opioids as he suggested “people who are struggling with addiction” could be “deprived of their second chance because Kamala Harris is letting fentanyl into our communities at record level”.

Vance puts his family front and centre

It was a tactic Trump’s running mate returned to throughout the 90-minute debate in questions spanning everything from the raging conflict in the Middle East to domestic manufacturing.

Tuesday night’s debate, likely to be the final one of the 2024 campaign, was also an opportunity for the two men who could be the country’s next vice president to introduce themselves to voters.

Mr Vance cast himself as a family man, repeatedly invoking his children and describing his humble origins in a former steeltown in Ohio.

He talked repeatedly about his mother, his wife Usha (pictured below) and their three children.