Tim Walz is “nervous” about facing JD Vance in next week’s vice presidential debate as he prepares this weekend for Tuesday’s showdown.
The Democratic presidential candidate has expressed to friends that he is worried about disappointing Kamala Harris, people close to him said. cnn.
Adding to the pressure is the fact that the debate is likely to be the last major confrontation between the two presidential candidates before the November 5 elections. Harris accepted CNN’s offer for another presidential debate, but Donald Trump did not.
So Walz has brought in some help to prepare: Pete Buttigieg, who plays Vance in mock debate sessions. Buttigieg, however, has his limits when it comes to playing the Republican senator from Ohio: he will not grow a beard.
Buttigieg has a polished on-camera persona and is a frequent guest on Fox News, where he spars with conservative hosts.
Tim Walz is said to be ‘nervous’ about Tuesday’s vice presidential debate
Those elected are holding a debate camp in northern Emmet County, on Michigan’s northern peninsula.
CBS News will host the showdown Tuesday night at 9 pm ET in New York City. It is scheduled to last 90 minutes without an audience in the studio. It will be moderated by Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan.
There will be no opening statements but there will be closing statements. CBS News said it reserves the right to mute the candidates’ microphones, but otherwise they will be hot.
In his interview with Harris for the vice president position, Walz warned him that he is a bad debater.
“He’s a strong person,” Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar told CNN about her state’s governor. He’s just not a debating type of lawyer. It’s not like I was dreaming about debates when I was in first grade.
Vance, on the other hand, attended Yale and honed his debate skills at the Ivy League school.
Walz’s allies fear that the Republican running mate will undermine Walz’s wisecracking dad persona and make the Democratic running mate look like a jerk or an out-of-touch liberal vouching for another liberal.
Republican Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who is helping Vance prepare for the debate by playing Walz, previewed his line of attack on Sunday.
Walz is “like Gavin Newsom in a flannel shirt,” Emmer told ABC’s This Week.
Emmer also sat down with DailyMail.com last week to talk about debate preparations.
“I’ve spent the last month going over all of their debates,” he said in an exclusive interview. “If I do my job, JD will expose it.”
“I’ve basically spent the last month studying all the things that Tim Walz has done, how he tries to pass himself off as something he’s not.”
“When the senator and I talk, that’s exactly what I’m going to show him and he’ll know how to deal with that fraudulent ‘Minnesota Nice’ personality.”
Republican running mate JD Vance honed his debate skills at Yale University
Pete Buttigieg plays JD Vance in mock sessions to prepare Tim Walz for debate
Walz, a former football coach, has a game plan: Skip Vance and attack Trump directly.
The Minnesota governor will take advantage of his sympathy to criticize Vance for “Project 2025” and for “selling his soul to Donald Trump.” cnn reported.
You could even borrow Harris’ playbook. When he was preparing for a vice presidential debate, before Joe Biden withdrew, he planned to ask Vance what promises he made to Trump so that the former president wouldn’t send an angry mob after him like Mike Pence experienced on January 6.
After the vice presidential debate, Harris and Walz will campaign together via a bus tour of central Pennsylvania, according to the campaign.
Wednesday’s visit will be the first time Harris and Walz have campaigned together in central Pennsylvania. They will make multiple stops along the way to meet with voters.
