Tom Emmer says Vance will hold Walz 'accountable' during VP debate

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., shared details of how he is helping GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance prepare for his upcoming debate on Tuesday with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Majority Whip Emmer, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, was invited to stand in for Walz to help Vance prepare to take on the governor's "folksy" personality.

Speaking exclusively to "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday, Emmer said he's spent the last month analyzing Walz's previous debate performances.

"I've known Tim probably since he was first elected almost 20 years ago, and I worked with him directly for four years, 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 said. "My job was to be able to play Tim Walz so JD Vance knows what he's going to see."

Asked by Raddatz if he has participated in any mock debates yet and has officially played Walz, Emmer said he didn't want to get ahead of Vance in sharing those details.

"The debate is on Tuesday night, so I'll let your viewers decide that, I'm not going to get ahead of JD and the team," Emmer told Raddatz. "If they want to talk about exactly what we did when we did it. How many times they can do that. For me, I did my job or have been doing my job in helping JD see what it is he's going to be dealing with on Tuesday night."

Emmer praised Vance, saying the Ohio senator will do a "great job" on Tuesday night and that "he got the issues on his side."

"Vance could talk about the economy that Donald Trump fixed and that Harris and Biden broke. 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," Emmer said. "Once he understands that Tim Walz is just going to try and deflect and go into this folksy whatever, he'll hold him accountable."

As Vance heads into Tuesday night's debate, he continues to struggle with his favorability numbers in national and state polling.

A recent AP-NORC poll found that Walz is viewed more favorably among registered voters than Vance.

In the poll, Walz has a 42% favorability rating among registered voters while Vance is at 27%. Along partisan lines, Walz also has better numbers -- he has a 72% favorability rating among Democrats while Vance is at 51% among Republicans.

Pressed by Raddatz about what Vance needs to do to change his favorability rating, Emmer said he doesn't believe the polling.

"I think JD is very likable, and I think he's well-liked, and I don't buy into these snapshot polls that are being done for a specific reason," Emmer 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."

At his rally Saturday night in Praire du Chein, Wis., former President Donald Trump called Harris "mentally impaired." Asked multiple times if he believes Harris is mentally impaired, Emmer said the focus should be on the issues.

As Trump and Vance continue to push the unsubstantiated claims that Haitian migrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, Raddatz asked if Vance should make clear those claims are not true if he is questioned about that on the debate stage, Emmer called it a "distraction."

"They've got focus on the issues," Emmer said. It'll be a very clear contrast between JD Vance and Donald Trump's agenda versus what Kamala Harris is talking about."

On Friday, Harris visited the southern border for the first time in more than three years, where she announced several border policies she would pursue as president, including barring migrants who illegally cross the border from reentering the country for five years and enacting stricter criminal penalties for repeat offenders.

When asked if he opposes these policies that Harris is proposing, Emmer argued that Harris has had several years to act on the border issue and is only taking action now because of how critical the issue is for voters heading into the election.

“This is too little too late. Nobody can believe her because her actions have said something completely different for four years.”