Voter panel reacts to Vance clash with debate moderators, mic cutoff: ‘You’re fact checking me’

A focus group of Republicans, Democrats and independents reacted to former President Trump’s running mate Sen. JD Vance’s microphone being cut off during the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate on Tuesday night.

Independent and Republican voters disapproved of the interjection, but independent voters dipped significantly when Vance began explaining his stance.

Despite CBS announcing that it would not allow live fact-checking during the debate, moderator Margaret Brennan interjected to correct Vance after he suggested that illegal immigrants are overwhelming public resources in Springfield, Ohio.

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“Just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status,” Brennan said.

“The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check,” Vance reminded them. “And since you are fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on.”

When Walz tried interjecting, independent approval also decreased for a brief moment. 

While explaining the process of obtaining legal status and tying it to a Harris-backed immigration policy, the moderators again spoke over Vance, thanking him for “describing the legal process” before they cut off his microphone as Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz attempted to argue with him.

When the microphones were cut off, the independent voter dial line can be seen moving in the approval direction as Republican approval decreased slightly. 

Fox News Digital’s Yael Halon contributed to this report.