Vice presidential debates are usually inconsequential undertakings between candidates for an office that has few defined responsibilities. But the debate between Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz offered an answer to a question that has hovered over the country since Donald Trump won the White House in 2016: Is there a future for the politics Trump brought into the Republican Party after Trump himself is gone?

That question was put to rest by Vances performance in this debate. The first-term senator showed himself to be a smoother and more policy-focused version of Trump. He promoted himself as a populist supporter of the working class through tariffs, support for families and opposition to free trade deals while endorsing the ethno-nationalist agenda that has been the bread-and-butter of Trumpism. He did so without Trumps seething rage, his divisive and racist language and his uncontrollable narcissism.

At the same time, he lied just as much as Trump.

He claimed that Trump brought back manufacturing jobs while the Biden administration has not. The opposite is true . He claimed he did not support a national abortion ban when he has previously endorsed one repeatedly . He said that Harris and President Joe Biden have hindered energy production by restricting fossil fuels when the U.S. is producing more oil than at any time in its history .

He lied about Trump having a plan to address child care costs . He claimed that Trump took bipartisan action to save the Affordable Care Act when the only vote in Congress that took place was Trumps effort to repeal the law.

Thats just a short run-down. These lies were bold and blatant, but unlike Trump, Vance did not deliver them in a cartoonishly obvious way.