'The View' host admits Walz 'dropped the ball' during VP debate: 'Wasn't in fighting mode'

"The View" co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said Wednesday that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz "dropped the ball" during Tuesday's vice presidential debate by failing to fact-check Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. 

"I honestly thought from a performance and delivery perspective, Tim Walz had the rockier night," Griffin said, despite arguing that Vance's difficulty in responding to a question about Jan. 6 at the end of the debate was the most clipable part of the night. 

Vance and Walz faced off in a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News and moderated by hosts Margaret Brennan and Norah O'Donnell. 

"I think JD Vance strategically went in to do 'Midwestern nice' to disarm Tim Walz. And Tim Walz kind of took the bait so he wasn’t in fighting mode. There were some fact checks he could have done that he dropped the ball on," Griffin said.

JD VANCE REMINDS CBS MODERATORS OF DEBATE RULES AFTER THEY TRY TO FACT-CHECK HIM

"What it meant was there were opportunities missed for him. I thought the Tiananmen Square moment, just say you overstated it. It wasn’t his strongest moment," Griffin said. 

Moderators confronted Walz about his claim that he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets are now reporting that Walz actually did not travel to China until August of that year. 

"Look, I grew up in small rural Nebraska, a town of 400. A town that you rode your bikes with your buddies until the streetlights come on, and I'm proud of that service. I joined the National Guard at 17, worked on family farms, and then I used the G.I. Bill to become a teacher. Passionate about it. Young teacher. My first year out, I got the opportunity in the summer of '89 to travel to China — 35 years ago, to be able to do that," Walz said.

Walz said he was a "knucklehead" at times while attempting to explain the discrepancy before Brennan pushed back and asked him again to answer the question. 

"All I said on this was, as I got there that summer and misspoke on this," Walz said. "So, I will just—that's what I've said. So, I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests, went in and, from that, I learned a lot of what needed to be in in governance." 

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Griffin added, "I was thinking that [Pennsylvania Gov.] Josh Shapiro or [Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg would have been wiping the floor with JD Vance." 

However, she also said that Vance was not authentic and the other co-hosts agreed.

"I found moments where I was like, wow, I really want to believe that he's empathetic and feeling for Walz, but I just remember the guy insulting cat ladies," Griffin said.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.