House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who has been helping Sen. JD Vance, the GOP vice presidential nominee, prepare for Tuesday night's debate against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said Sunday that the Ohio senator will "do great because he's got the issues on his side."
Emmer, R-Minn., has been acting as a stand-in for Walz to help Vance prepare for their stand-off, and told ABC News' "This Week" that he has spent the last month analyzing Walz's previous performances.
"I've known Tim probably since he was first elected almost 20 years ago, and I worked with him directly for four years," he said. "I spent the last month just going back, all of his old stuff, to get his phrases down, his mannerisms, that sort of thing."
Emmer wouldn't reveal details of Vance's debate strategy, but he said the Ohio Republican will have plenty of talking points against Walz.
"Vance could talk about the economy that Donald Trump fixed and that [Kamala] Harris and [Joe] Biden broke," said Emmer. "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 [about]; they've caused all of this disruption."
And if Walz tries to deflect and "go into his folksy whatever," Vance will hold him accountable, the congressman said.
Emmer, though, rejected polling that shows Walz with a 42% favorability rating compared to 27% for Vance, and told ABC that "JD is very likable."
"I don't buy into these snapshot polls that are being done for a specific reason," he said. "Once people get to know who [Walz] is and they know what his policies are, he's more radical than Kamala Harris, people do not like him once they get to know him and JD will expose that on Tuesday."
Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, insulted Harris' mental acuity during a rally in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, calling her "mentally disabled," but Emmer would not answer directly if he approves of such language.
"I think Kamala Harris is the wrong choice for America," he said. "I think Kamala Harris is actually as bad or worse as the administration, that we've witnessed for the last four years."
Emmer also criticized Harris' border policy proposals, arguing that she's only speaking now because the issue is a critical one heading into the election.
"This is too little too late," he said. "Nobody can believe her because her actions have said something completely different for four years."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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