In a Sign that the Kennedy/ Trump Alliance is Strengthening, Vance Invokes Kennedy's Defense of Free Speech During VP Debate

By Adam Garrie, The Kennedy Beacon 

The vice presidential debate between Ohio Senator J.D. Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, broadcast live on CBS on October 1, was distinctly less combative than last month’s debate between presidential candidates.

A flash poll from CBS found that 42% of viewers felt that Vance won while 41% thought Walz won. 

Toward the end of the debate, Vance was asked about the state of democracy in America. While the moderators had hoped to put Vance in an uncomfortable position regarding the events of January 6, 2021, Vance instead pivoted to the importance of the First Amendment in a democracy, citing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He called Kennedy a key political figure who will help restore and buttress constitutionally protected speech from the censorship onslaught of the Democratic party. 

“I believe that we actually do have a threat to democracy in this country, but unfortunately, it's not the threat to democracy that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz want to talk about,” Vance said. “It is the threat of censorship.” 

As Kennedy has done repeatedly, in and out of court, Vance highlighted the role of big tech in “silencing” Americans. 

Vance accused Harris of seeking to censor people “who engage in misinformation.” Vance called this, “a much bigger threat to democracy than anything that we've seen in this country in the last four years, in the last 40 years.” 

Vance praised Kennedy and former Democratic congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard, for their endorsement of Trump. “Now I'm really proud, especially given that I was raised by two lifelong blue collar Democrats to have the endorsement of Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, lifelong leaders in the democratic coalition,” he said. “And of course, they don't agree with me and Donald Trump on every issue. We don't have to agree on every issue, but we're united behind a basic American First Amendment principle that we ought to debate our differences. We ought to argue about them. We ought to try to persuade our fellow Americans”. 

In a debate that was at times long winded and at others, overly cerebral, Vance clearly, articulately and boldly outlined the importance of building a free speech coalition that will take on the political, corporate and deep state forces of censorship whose record is as real as it is alarming.

While the debate covered many of the topics dominating the news cycle, including Hurricane Helene and the longshoreman strike, Vance’s commitment to Kennedy’s vision of free speech is an important tip of the hat to a one-time rival. It suggests that the Trump/Vance ticket in fact takes Kennedy’s ideas seriously and plans to integrate him and them into a second Trump administration.