House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said Sunday that Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio will hold Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “accountable” when the vice-presidential nominees debate next week.
Mr. Emmer, Minnesota Republican, has been standing in as Mr. Walz during Mr. Vance’s debate preparation.
“I’ve known Tim probably since he was first elected almost 20 years ago, and I worked with him directly for four years. I spent the last month just going back, all of his old stuff, to get his phrases down, his mannerisms, that sort of thing,” Mr. Emmer said on ABC’s “This Week.” “My job was to be able to play Tim Walz so J.D. Vance knows what he’s going to see.”
He criticized Mr. Walz as being “not well liked” and said the Democratic vice-presidential nominee is like “[California Governor] Gavin Newsom in a flannel shirt.”
He said Mr. Vance will do a “great job” at Tuesday’s debate in New York City.
“He could talk about the economy that [GOP presidential nominee] Donald Trump fixed and that [Vice President Kamala] Harris and [President] Biden broke,” Mr. Emmer said. “He can talk about the border that Trump fixed and they broke. He can talk about peace and stability around the world, which they don’t even have a clue.”
“They’ve caused all of this disruption in — once he understands that Tim Walz is just going to try and deflect and go into this folksy whatever, he’ll hold him accountable,” he said.
When asked about Mr. Walz being more well liked in the polls than Mr. Vance, Mr. Emmer said he doesn’t “buy into these snapshot polls,” adding that Mr. Vance is “very likable.”
“People do not like [Mr. Walz] once they get to know him,” he said. “And J.D. will expose that on Tuesday.”
Mr. Walz and Mr. Vance will meet on the debate stage Tuesday in an event hosted by CBS News. It will be held at the CBS Broadcast Center and will start at 9 p.m. It will be moderated by “Evening News” host Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan.
The Washington Times has reached out to the Harris presidential campaign for comment.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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