Enemy veep candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz are prepping for their first and only debate Tuesday — with both camps just praying their hopefuls don’t screw it up.
Vance, a 40-year-old Republican senator from Ohio, and the Democratic Minnesota governor, 60, have never debated at the vice-presidential level and have spent the past weeks preparing their policy points, approach and candor with their closest advisers in mock debates.
The GOPer had Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) stand in for Walz in his mock debates, while the governor chose Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to play the role of Vance for him.
Vance and Walz’s televised showdown will occur just over a month ahead of Election Day and is expected to be the final head-to-head politicking that viewers will see before they cast their vote for the top presidential tickets of Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump.
Walz has said he is “nervous” to spar with his GOP foe, but Trump’s campaign heaped praise on the governor’s rhetorical experience — seemingly trying to set him up for extra failure if he does poorly and soften the blow for Vance if the Minnesota pol does well.
“Walz is very good in debates. I want to repeat that. Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years,” Trump adviser Jason Miller told reporters Monday morning on a press call.
“He’ll be very well-prepared for tomorrow night. He’s not going to be the wildly gesticulating something [of a] caricature we see at rallies pointing to Kamala Harrison dancing about on the stage. Walz is going to be buttoned up,” Miller said.
But in a bit of mixed messaging, Vance told The Post last week that he doesn’t have to “prepare that much” to face off against Walz.
Vance’s prep has largely taken place in Cincinnati, Ohio, and involved his wife Usha. It also included reviewing Walz’s previous debate tactics when he was running for other offices.
As for Walz, those close to him likewise seemed to be trying to downplay expectations, telling the press that the governor just doesn’t have the verbal game to be totally carefree going into the debate.
“He’s a strong person,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told CNN. “He’s just not a lawyer-debater type. It’s not like he was dreaming of debates when he was in first grade.”
Some of Walz’s nerves come from him not wanting to let Harris down and make her think she should have picked a different VP candidate, campaign aides said, according to CNN.
Vance is looking to expose Walz for his record as governor in Minnesota overseeing the COVID-19 lockdowns there and his response to the 2020 George Floyd riots. The Republican also will go directly after Harris’ record as San Francisco’s former district attorney and President Biden’s current vice president, Trump’s campaign said Monday.
Miller predicted Walz will be aggressive and a “chameleon” but that Vance will be prepared and work around the Minnesotan’s “folky” demeanor.
Walz is preparing to go straight into Trump and largely skip over Vance but also push the claim that the senator is tied to the Heritage Foundation’s controversial Project 2025 while leaning into his own Minnesota appeal, CNN reported.
