Not Minnesota nice: GOP congressman playing Tim Walz in debate prep with JD Vance argues he’s an ’empty suit’

Ask House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer about Gov. Tim Walz, a fellow Minnesotan and Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, and the five-term Republican congressman jokingly takes a shot.

“I didn’t realize that Tim Walz and I are around the same age. He looks so much older,” the 63-year-old Emmer said about the 60-year-old Walz.

Emmer was answering a question during a Fox News Digital interview about whether Emmer was playing the role of the Minnesota governor in debate prep with GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio because they’re both from the same state and similar ages.

Emmer, a one-time college hockey player and attorney who serves as the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House, shared that he and Vance had not yet [as of Thursday afternoon when he spoke to Fox News Digital) conducted a mock debate.

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Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, speaks to supporters during a campaign event at the Northwestern Michigan Fair grounds Sept. 25, 2024, in Traverse City, Mich. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“We’re going to get together at some point,” he said, declining to add any details or specifics on the mock session with Vance ahead of Tuesday’s vice presidential debate in New York City.

But Emmer, who steered the House Republicans’ campaign committee in the 2020 and 2022 cycles, had plenty of criticism of Harris and Walz.

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“It’s an honor to be asked to play a very small part in helping JD and President Trump expose the failures of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

Emmer argued “the hardest part of playing Walz … is trying to tell lies with a straight face, because that’s what he does. He’s good at the debate game, but there isn’t substance there. There’s a lot of air.”

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, speaks at a rally featuring former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center July 27, 2024, in St Cloud, Minn. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Emmer and Walz overlapped for four years in the House before Walz won election in 2018 as Minnesota’s governor.

“I do know him probably as well or better than most on the Republican side. And I can tell you that Minnesotans, people at home, know better than anyone that we can’t afford four years of a Harris-Walz administration in the White House,” Emmer emphasized.

And Emmer claimed “it’s very clear today that the Tim Walz that was here in Congress was literally, he was a fraud. He was playing the character of a Greater Minnesota ag-friendly outdoorsman who really cared about the people. Since then, he’s made it very clear to people in Greater Minnesota that he has very little interest in them.

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“It doesn’t get reported enough, but under Walz, Minnesota’s taxes have skyrocketed. Violent crime is up all over, and our communities are worse off,” Emmer said. “No amount of Minnesota nice … is going to make up for Tim Walz’s failed policy record.”

Emmer claimed that “Walz is an empty suit who has worked to turn Minnesota into Harris’ home state of California. … This guy is Gavin Newsom wearing a flannel shirt.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s 2024 vice presidential nominee, speaks onstage at a Harris-Walz campaign rally at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa., Sept. 21, 2024 (Caroline Gutman for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

A Republican hasn’t carried Minnesota in a presidential election since President Richard Nixon’s 1972 landslide re-election over a half century ago. It was the only state President Reagan lost in his 1984 re-election landslide.

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Asked if Minnesota is in play in the presidential race, Emmer said, “Are we going to be close enough that Donald Trump has a chance to be the first Republican presidential candidate to win Minnesota since 1972? I think the answer is yes.”

Emmer noted that polls suggest Harris’ margin in Minnesota over Trump has dropped since she named Walz as her running mate early last month.

“He’s not popular in Minnesota. I think by picking Tim Walz, they may have put Minnesota in play,” Emmer argued.

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