Lizard Liar

I don't know who that was on the debate stage last night but it was not the JD Vance we've all come to know and loathe.

I watched the debate last night between Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and an imposter playing JD Vance. That was NOT JD Vance we saw in the debate last night.

The courteous gentleman we saw last night wasn’t the same guy we’ve seen on TV and at hate rallies attacking Tim Walz’s military service and dehumanizing legal immigrants by claiming they’re eating your cats.

This guy was cordial, shook his opponent’s hand, brought his wife on stage after the debate, agreed with his opponent a few times, and didn’t engage in nasty name-calling. He was relaxed and composed. It was like two friends disagreeing over sports in a bar over beers.

Tim Walz on the other hand was shaky and nervous. It took him time to find his footing. Walz is not a good debater but he’s not a disaster either. There were plenty of times he allowed this JD imposter to get away with bullshit, but despite what conservative CNN contributor Scott Jennings spun, Walz didn’t go down in flames. In fact, I felt the polls would be tight on who won the debate and I was correct.

CNN’s instant poll of undecided voters found that JD Vance won the night at 51 percent to Walz’s 49. With it that close, nobody really won and nobody lost. But let’s see what happens after a few statements from last night sink in.

Every analyst praised the debate and how both candidates were civil. We’re being rewarded for not being total assholes anymore. At one point, after Walz said his son had witnessed a shooting (the same one Republicans mocked and ridiculed during the Democratic National Convention), JD expressed sympathy for that. How civil and courteous. How…almost human of him.

The thing is, kids…the JD Vance who attacked Walz’s military record, continues to dehumanize immigrants and push hate at hate rallies and during interviews was inside that skin we saw last night. He expressed sympathy to Walz over his son witnessing a mass shooting but he didn’t offer to do anything to stop school shootings.

JD is like that kid in high school who trashes people and when he encounters them, he’s all, “Hey, buddy…how’s it going?” He’s good at talking behind your back but not so good at saying it to your face. He’s a coward.

JD, while being nice, was lying. He lied all night but let’s focus on three of those lies.

JD lied about never advocating for a national abortion ban. One person in CNN’s focus group came away thinking JD was kinda moderate and not the least bit extreme on abortion. JD did a great job of telling lies almost as if he’s very experienced at it.

JD also lied saying Trump saved Obamacare. Trump also pushed this huge lie during his last debate. It’s not just a lie, it’s an outrageous lie. It’s a giant turd sandwich with ketchup on it. Trump tried to destroy Obamacare and would have succeeded if it wasn’t for John McCain who voted against it.

JD Vance told another whopper near the end of the debate saying that Trump handed over power peacefully, totally forgetting all those court challenges, fake electors, “find me 11,780 votes,” and the violent white nationalist terrorist insurrection attempt.

What might have saved the night for Walz was him asking JD Vance the simple question of who won the 2020 election. JD refused saying he didn’t want to talk about the past. That’s weird coming from a candidate who is a part of the Make America Great Again campaign. You do know that “again” is part of the past. What part of the past do you want to bring back to make America great again? Oh, yeah…you don’t want to talk about the past.

What is weird about last night’s debate is that while JD won higher points, and probably improved his image as a couch fucker who hates childless cat ladies, the focus group did lean toward Walz. They found him more human and two of the undecideds decided they were going to vote for Harris/Walz in November. What hurt JD with the group was his refusal to acknowledge Trump lost the 2020 election and his stance on abortion. I’m looking forward to how this plays out in the coming days. The Harris Campaign is already putting together an ad on it.

I don’t know why Vance was so afraid to state the fact Trump lost when Trump wasn’t even paying attention as he tweeted during the debate about Pete Rose.

Walz may have been shaky (not answering why he said he was in China during the Tiananmen Square protests when he wasn’t. That was stupid), but he may have gotten the job done last night.

Before the debate, I thought it didn’t really matter. These veep debates aren’t really important to elections. If anything, they’re just mostly good at introducing the candidates and maybe build their profiles for the future. I think I’m right because one poll from last night showed that only one percent of respondents said the veep debate will affect how they vote in November. Does anyone really believe John McCain lost to Barack Obama in 2008 because Sarah Palin was a crazy nut job while losing a debate to Joe Biden? No, but it didn’t help.

JD Vance has not been popular and has been under water with his approval ratings. He most likely improved those numbers last night but I predict they’ll go back down again because he’s still a weird creep. Trump and JD can’t hide their creepiness for long.

Also, I apologize to all lizards offended by this cartoon. It’s really not fair to lizards or any reptiles to be compared to Donald Trump and JD Vance.

Travel note: My schedule may be a little different between now and Monday as I’ll be attending the convention for the Association of Canadian Cartoonists in Montreal (in case you’re a Republican, Montreal is also in Canada). No, I’m not defecting…yet. The Association of American Cartoonists is piggybacking its convention on the Canadians. Shhhhh….don’t tell the Canadians.
With this cartoon, I’m ahead of schedule through Saturday, so I’m going to have to draw at least one more cartoon during the convention.

Why no live chat during last night’s debate?: I forgot. One of you messaged me shortly before the debate asking about it because the last one was so much fun. That’s when I realized I should have set it up. But, I have been distracted and was trying to get ahead of schedule yesterday before my trip. I also had to do my monthly billing to all my clients. A live chat would have been great last night. If there’s another debate, we’ll definitely do a live chat unless I forget again. We’ll do one on election night too.

A note on comments: I love your comments. If I don’t reply, it’s just because I’m busy and distracted. Just note that I do read them all when I get the emails. Please keep them coming.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

Timelapse with a voiceover:

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