Surrogates Give Glimpse Into JD Vance’s Debate Strategy

Don’t hold your breath if you expect JD Vance to repeat the outrageous conspiracy theory that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s pet cats and dogs.

Surrogates for the Republican vice presidential nominee gave reporters a preview of what to expect from the Ohio senator going into Tuesday night’s primetime debate with his Democratic rival, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—the last debate scheduled before the presidential election in November.

Walz, the governor of Minnesota and 12-year veteran of the House of Representatives in the state’s rural first district, has largely leaned into his Midwestern identity and “Minnesota nice” personality. Some of his allies, including fellow Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, have worried this might be a liability on the debate stage.

Meanwhile, Vance will portray himself as the man for Middle America, having come from a “disadvantaged struggling community,” his debate advisors said on Monday night.

He will position himself as someone who knows tough decisions everyday Americans make about whether to turn the heat on at night or buy groceries the next morning, while Tim Walz will “paint a pollyanna picture about how great things will be” if Harris wins, Trump senior advisor Jason Miller told reporters on the call.

A recent New York Times/Siena poll found that more Midwesterns had a favorable view of Walz over his Ohioan rival—with a larger 48% of voters in Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin holding an unfavorable opinion of Vance.

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GOP Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who played the role of Walz during Vance’s debate prep sessions, excoriated his fellow Minnesotan. Emmer, who represents the Republican-leaning district directly northwest of Minneapolis, told reporters that his former House colleague is a “total fraud.” He predicted that Vance will “wipe the floor with Tim Walz” in Tuesday night’s CBS debate.

“No amount of Minnesota nice is going to make up for the fact that Walz embodies” Kamala Harris’ “open-border and soft-on-crime” policy stance, Emmer told reporters.

Jason Miller, Trump’s senior campaign advisor and veteran of his 2016 campaign and transition team, agreed with the Minnesota congressman.“There’s no Minnesota nice there.”

Miller hinted that Vance will go after Walz on the “illegal immigration crime wave” on Harris’ watch and “taxpayer-funded sex change operations.” He told political reporters not to be fooled by stories suggesting that Walz, a veteran politician, is “real nervous and chewing on his fingernails.”

“Tim Walz is very good at debates. Really good,” Miller said, pointing to Walz’s 12 years as a member of the House of Representatives before becoming governor of Minnesota. In fact, Miller said, Walz’s tenure in Congress will come up in the debate “in a big way.”

“He’s not gonna be the wildly gesticulating effeminate caricature we see at rallies pointing to Kamala Harris and dancing about on the stage,” said Miller, a longtime trusted Trump aide who worked on both the 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

More Swiftboat Allegations

The call also featured retired Army National Guard veterans Tom Behrends and Tom Schilling who leveled the “stolen valor” claims against Walz for quitting the Guard and allegedly abandoning his fellow soldiers as they were deploying to Iraq.

Walz is a 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard, and eventually became the Command Sgt. Major of the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery Regiment. He filed paperwork to leave in March 2005 as he was mulling a run for congress, and eventually retired from active duty that May. Walz’ unit received a mobilization order that August and deployed the next year.

His fellow soldiers remain divided on his decision, and some told the Daily Beast that they believed he could do more good for fellow Iraq veterans as an anti-war advocate in Congress.

Staying Away From Springfield

During the question-and-answer session of the call, an Associated Press reporter asked if Vance will repeat Trump’s assertions from the presidential debate that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s cats and dogs.

Miller dodged answering the question, saying instead, “I definitely would expect Senator Vance to talk about all aspects of illegal immigration, including as we’ve seen, and this is a big issue with regard to Springfield, the Kamala harris smokescreen when it comes to illegal aliens and the issue of temporary protective status.”

He said Vance will “go strong” on the flights carrying migrants from foreign countries, including from Haiti and Central America, in “staggering numbers.”

October Surprise?

Miller hinted Vance will call Harris the “border czar.” And he said Vance will have a “few other things I’m not going to preview here.”

However, the Trump advisor quickly threw cold water on the idea of another debate with Harris. Miller said Trump has no plans to reconsider debating Harris, saying she “lost terribly” and that the “momentum is going against Harris.”

Harris has continued to push for a second debate after a strong showing in September, recently telling an audience in Las Vegas she was “all in” for a rematch with the former president.