GOP Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance is getting ready to debate fellow Midwesterner and current Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic VP nominee.
The contest pits the Yale-educated lawyer from Ohio against the former Minnesota high school football coach, both of whom were chosen in part because of their presumed appeal to Americans in the heartland.
Vance’s debate prep team includes Republican Minnesota Congressman and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who is reportedly performing as a stand-in for Walz during Vance’s practice sessions. (Emmer is also up for re-election this year.)
Emmer’s familiarity with Walz is designed to lend authenticity to the practices — Emmer has served two different stints in Congress representing Minnesota and in between those narrowly lost a bid for governor, the position Walz now holds. (Walz is also a former Congressman — in short, Emmer and Walz have occupied the same public arena for decades.)
Emmer gained a great deal of national public attention in late 2023, when it briefly looked as if he — not Mike Johnson — would acquire the gavel and become Speaker of the House.
But Emmer withdrew his bid for the Speakership just hours after his GOP colleagues nominated him, being made swiftly to realize that Donald Trump disapproved of his getting the job — and that without Trump’s approval, he had little chance to move forward.
Asked why he hobbled Emmer’s ambition, Trump at the time said simply “He wasn’t MAGA,” signaling that he felt Emmer was insufficiently loyal to Trump and his movement.
Since then, Emmer has seemed to be trying diligently to fall in line, often praising Trump in grandiose style, marking the former president out as “the patriot” of the century.
President Trump is the patriot of the 21st century.
Despite two attempts on his life, sham impeachments, bogus indictments, inflammatory rhetoric from the radical left, and relentless attacks from the mainstream media…
He will NEVER surrender, nor should he. pic.twitter.com/83hBi9d1Uh
— Tom Emmer (@tomemmer) September 18, 2024
Emmer also does his MAGA soldiering duty, parroting Trump’s exact attack lines against Democrats — like calling Kamala Harris a “communist” — and expressing his fealty to Trump in officious social media posts, recently calling Trump the “first Crypto Commander in Chief.”
Our first Crypto Commander in Chief will be @realDonaldTrump.
Comrade Kamala Harris can’t be trusted to support the strong and growing digital economy. pic.twitter.com/ogSsvburyD
— Tom Emmer (@tomemmer) September 20, 2024 rosh ha
(Trump, a former crypto skeptic, has changed his mind and embraced the industry.)
Indeed, Emmer’s posts — self-generated or shared — frequently refer to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Comrade Kamala Harris” or “San Francisco liberal” — long Republican code for “socialist.”
I’ll never back down from calling out the mainstream media.
They cover for the failed policies of Comrade @KamalaHarris and ignore the border crisis that she caused. pic.twitter.com/DnhyxAb5xn
— Tom Emmer (@tomemmer) September 18, 2024
Aside from Emmer’s familiarity with Walz, questions about Vance’s choice of Emmer come in two forms. First, does Emmer’s attack dog role — especially his habit of cutting out nuance and calling Harris a communist and Tim Walz a “radical progressive” — serve Vance’s preparations best?
And second, has Emmer — in Trump’s thinking — been rehabilitated enough to be on the team? After all, it was just a year ago the nominee declared that Emmer wasn’t MAGA. Debate night is October 1.