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vp debate moderators
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Culture > News

Here Are The Best Memes Of The 2024 Vice Presidential Debate Moderators

Eliza Disbrow

When watching the vice presidential debate on Oct. 1, you would think the most interesting part would be the potential VPs, J.D. Vance and Tim Walz, duking it out over the most important issues at the forefront of the election. But they weren’t the only ones drawing attention; the two debate moderators, Margaret Brennan and Norah O’Donnell, had many viewers very glued to their screens.

ICYMI, Brennan is the chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS, in addition to CBS News’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, an Emmy-nominated news program. Norah O’Donnell is the anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News, anchor of CBS News Election Specials, a 60 Minutes correspondent, and host of Person to Person. Suffice it to say, these two women were primed for the moderating job, as CBS was the network in charge of broadcasting the debate.

Brennan and O’Donnell opened the debate with a quick rundown of the rules of the night, with the big two being that each candidate would have a chance to respond to (and thus fact-check) their opponent’s statements, and that — unlike the Sept. 10 presidential debate — the candidates’ microphones would remain on throughout the night, but CBS reserved the right to mute them in order to maintain decorum if necessary.

And, alas, CBS did indeed decide to mute the mics during a particularly tense and awkward moment between Vance and the moderators. It happened pretty early on in the debate, when Vance was speaking about how “millions of illegal immigrants” had overwhelmed cities like Springfield, Ohio (which, if you’ll recall, is the place where Trump and Vance both erroneously claimed migrants were stealing and eating pets). To this point, Brennan clarified that “Springfield’s Haitian migrants have legal status,” which seemed to rile up Vance, as he clapped back with, “The rules were you guys weren’t going to fact check.” Vance continued speaking about immigrants applying for asylum, to which Brennan cut in, “Thank you, Senator, for describing the legal process.”

But still, Vance persisted, even talking over Brennan and O’Donnell as they reiterated the importance of moving to the next question. At that point, Walz also spoke up to try to share his two cents as well.

Then, suddenly, the debate got much quieter, with the audience unable to hear either candidate clearly. For a few moments, Walz and Vance engaged in some incomprehensible back-and-forth, until Brennan, smiling, responded to the brief chaos by telling the candidates, “The audience can’t hear you because your mics are cut.”

And in that moment, both Brennan and O’Donnell became instant memes.

Thankfully, following that moment, the moderators and candidates were able to carry on with a relatively tame debate for the rest of the night. Brennan and O’Donnell closed out the event by thanking both candidates and reiterating that there were only 35 days left before election day, with this VP debate being the last debate before Election Day on Nov. 5.

Eliza Disbrow

Washington '26

Eliza Disbrow is a junior at the University of Washington, majoring in European Studies with a double minor in Spanish and business. Eliza is a writer for both the University of Washington chapter and for National HerCampus, covering a variety of topics, from music, books, politics, to anime. Beyond Her Campus, Eliza serves as the co-president of the University of Washington Euro Club. In her free time, Eliza can be seen taking in the sights of Seattle on any of the available forms of public transportation, normally with a book in hand and headphones in her ears. She plays guitar and bass, mainly as an excuse to play either Fall Out Boy or Ghost to family and friends. Additionally, she is perhaps the number-one super fan of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," somehow able to quote or recall episodes ranging from the most recent release or from three years ago.