AP, WASHINGTON

US vice presidential hopefuls Tim Walz and J.D. Vance on Tuesday focused their criticism on the top of the ticket as they engaged in a policy-heavy debate ahead of November’s US presidential election.

It was the first encounter between Minnesota’s Democratic governor and Ohio’s Republican senator.

Walz and Vance outlined the policy and character differences between their respective running mates, US Vice President Kamala Harris and former US president Donald Trump.

US Senator J.D. Vance, third right, waves as he and his wife, Usha Vance, third left, leave that stage, while Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, second right, and his wife, Gwen Walz, right, greet CBS News moderators Norah O’Donnell, second left, and Margaret Brennan after the vice presidential debate between Republican Vance and Democrat Walz in New York on Tuesday.

Photo: AP

Walz promised “steady leadership” under Harris while Vance pledged a return to “peace through strength” if Trump is returned to the White House.

“What’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter,” Walz said, then referenced the “nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes” and responding to global crises by posting on social media.

Vance, for his part, promised a return to “effective deterrence” under Trump, pushing back on Walz’s criticism of Trump by attacking Harris and her role in the current administration with US President Joe Biden.

“Who has been the vice president for the last three-and-a-half years and the answer is your running mate, not mine,” he said.

The Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 last year happened “during the administration of Kamala Harris,” he said.

Vance and Walz trained the bulk of their attacks not on their onstage rivals, but on the running mates, who were not in the room.

Both vice presidential nominees sought to convey a genial mien as they lobbed criticism at Harris or Trump.

Walz said that Trump failed to meet his pledge of building a physical barrier across the entire US-Mexico border at the country’s southern neighbor’s expense.

“Less than 2 percent of that wall got built and Mexico didn’t pay a dime,” Walz said.

Vance said to his opponent: “I think that you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think that Kamala Harris does.”

In the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Helene, Vance took a question about climate change and gave an answer about jobs and manufacturing.

He said that the best way to fight climate change was to move more manufacturing to the US, because the country has the world’s cleanest energy economy.

Walz also kept the climate change focus domestic, touting the Biden administration’s renewable energy investments, as well as record levels of oil and natural gas production.

“You can see us becoming an energy superpower in the future,” Walz said.

The two running mates agreed that the number of migrants in the US illegally is a problem, but each laid the blame on the opposing presidential nominee.

Vance echoed Trump by repeatedly calling Harris the “border czar” and said that she, as vice president, rolled back the immigration restrictions Trump had imposed as president, resulting in an unchecked flow of fentanyl, strain on state and local resources, and increased housing prices.

Walz advanced Democrats’ arguments that Trump single-handedly killed a bipartisan US Senate deal to tighten border security and boost the processing system for immigrants and asylum seekers.

Republicans backed off the deal only after Trump told them it was not good enough, Walz said.