Washington, 2 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) - US vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance faced off in a televised debate on Tuesday.

It was the only scheduled debate between the two ahead of the US presidential election on November 5.

The debate opened with a question on the Middle East, amid heightened fears that the region is on the brink of all-out war.

Democratic nominee Walz said the US needed to keep a presence in the region and said he supported standing with Israel against Iran-backed proxies.

The US needed "steady leadership" and allies understood that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was "fickle," Walz said.

"He will go to whoever has the most flattery."

Vance responded that Trump "consistently made the world more secure," while he was in office.

"Donald Trump recognized that for people to fear the United States, you needed peace through strength. They needed to recognize that if they got out of line, the United States global leadership would put stability and peace back in the world," Vance said.

The pair sparred over the issue of abortion access, which Walz's running mate Kamala Harris has made a central issue of her campaign.

"We're pro-women, we're pro-freedom to make your own choice," Walz said.

"There's a continuation of these guys to try and tell women, or to get involved. I used this line on this, 'Just mind your own business on this,'" he added.

Vance called himself a "Republican who proudly wants to protect innocent life in this country."

He supported fertility treatments and wanted mothers to be able to afford to have babies, Vance added.

The pair also exchanged views on climate change, gun violence, immigration and the American economy, among other things.

Vance was not always a loyal Trump ally - once even going so far as to call himself "a Never Trump guy."

He addressed his previous attacks stating that he had disagreed with Trump in the past.

"When you screw up, when you misspeak, when you get something wrong and you change your mind, you ought to be honest with the American people."

Photo: EPA