Minnesota Rep Tom Emmer plays Tim Walz in JD Vance's debate prep

JD Vance is gearing up for the upcoming vice presidential debate against Kamala Harris' running mate, Tim Walz. To aid in his preparation, Vance has enlisted House Republican Whip Tom Emmer from Minnesota, who has been extensively studying Walz’s past performances.

“I've spent the last month going through all of his debates,”  Emmer stated in an interview with Daily Mail. “If I do my job, JD is going to expose him.” 

Emmer plans to help Vance navigate Walz's “Minnesota Nice” persona, suggesting that he will aid Vance with strategies to effectively counter this image. Vance confirmed Emmer's involvement in his debate preparation but did not elaborate on the specifics of their practice sessions.

Having served in the US House of Representatives since 2015, Emmer knows Walz personally from their time together in Congress. While he refrained from sharing specific strategies, Emmer expressed confidence in Vance’s ability to perform well.

“He's going to do a great job, and I'm honored to just play a small part,” Emmer said. He went on to highlight Vance's genuine Ohioan personality, which he believes will resonate more with voters compared to Walz, whom he characterized as disingenuous.“

“Tim Walz is a fraud. Tim Walz is a guy who likes to play Midwestern nice and make you believe that he's with you. And then guess what? As soon as you give them the keys to the car, he drives it right off the cliff,” he claimed.

“He is not well-liked at home because of the things that he has done,” Emmer continued, “I mean, he supported free college driver's licenses and Minnesota Care expansion for illegal immigrants. He stood alongside rioters who burned Minneapolis to the ground and refused to deploy the National Guard until it was too late.”

“JD will expose him for these things, and quite frankly, he'll expose the fact that Tim Walz and Kamala Harris are absolutely wrong for America,” Emmer added.

Walz has also been preparing for the debate, reportedly working with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for mock debate sessions against Vance, per the Daily Mail. Walz will look to continue to attempt to reach out to male voters, whom Kamala Harris has been drastically underperforming with in her election efforts against former President Donald Trump.

The vice presidential debate is scheduled for Tuesday night at 9 pm in New York City and will be hosted by CBS News. CBS has announced that the moderators will not “fact-check” the candidates, a stray from the recent ABC debate that received backlash for partisan fact-checking that was only applied to Trump.