WASHINGTON Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) spent Tuesday nights vice presidential debate downplaying former President Donald Trump s most extreme plans for a second term, on issues including abortion, immigration and health care.

But one of Vances most egregious attempts at rewriting reality came when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, asked him directly if Trump lost the 2020 election, which he very much did .

[Trump] is still saying he didnt lose the 2020 election, Walz said, turning to the Ohio Republican. Did he lose the 2020 election?

Tim, Im focused on the future, Vance replied. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?

That is a damning non-answer, Walz said.

Vance, who once called Trump Americas Hitler, also defended his running mate as having overseen a peaceful transfer of presidential power to Joe Biden despite fueling a violent attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, that resulted in more than 140 police officers injured (and several dead by suicide) and nearly got Trumps vice president, Mike Pence, killed.

He peacefully gave over power on Jan. 20, Vance said.

The debate, the first and only meeting of the vice presidential candidates and most likely the final presidential debate of this years election cycle was fairly uneventful, however. There were no fireworks or petty squabbles like during debates featuring Trump. Vance and Walz stuck to defending and deferring to the candidates at the top of their tickets. They even said some nice things to each other, including when Vance was sympathetic to Walz sharing that his son had witnessed a shooting at a community center.

But when it came to policy questions, Vance who entered the night as one of the least popular vice presidential picks in recent American history and delivered a performance conservatives hope will improve his image spent most of his time papering over Trumps drastic policy plans.

When immigration came up, he repeatedly refused to answer questions about Trumps plans to use the U.S. military to carry out mass deportations, as well as whether that would involve separating parents from children who were born in the United States.

We have a historic immigration crisis, Vance replied before pivoting to talk about fentanyl.

Asked once more, minutes later, whether he and Trump would separate parents from their children even if their kids are American citizens, Vance again dodged.

My point is that we already have massive child separations thanks to Kamala Harris open border, he said, glossing over his running mates plan to set up camps along the border to deport millions of people at a record pace. (Vances claim that Harris caused child separations also does not hold up to scrutiny .)