CBS News announced last month that Tim Walz and JD Vance had both agreed to participate in a debate in New York City.

Vance downplayed his incendiary tall tales about immigrant enclaves preying on people’s pets — which have resulted in dozens of bomb threats in Springfield — as a “meme.” And he essentially argued that he has no obligation to make sure stories he’s fed are true if it advances his narrative that immigrants are undesirable.