Tim Walz, speaking to an audience Tuesday for the first time as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, made a sly reference to an embarrassing storyline regarding his Republican counterpart, Sen. J.D. Vance, and a couch.
Joining Harris in Philadelphia, the Minnesota governor told the crowd to an uproar of laughter: “And I got to tell you, I can’t wait to debate the guy—that is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
The baseless rumor of Vance’s lewd association with couches began with a post on X that, as a joke, called attention to a nonexistent quotation in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. What compounded the matter for Vance, though, was the Associated Press walking back a fact check stating that Vance did not have sex with his couch. From then on, the memes have been plentiful, and the story has been cheekily alluded to on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.
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The Harris campaign, too, got involved late last month. “JD Vance does not couch his hatred for women,” it wrote on X, captioning a 2021 tweet of Vance’s criticizing “cat ladies.”
During his speech Tuesday, Walz continued to take jabs at Trump’s vice presidential pick, but did not spare the former president, either.
“[Trump] said he would ban abortion across this country, and he’ll do it whether or not Congress is there or not. Donald Trump’s not fighting for you or your family. He never sat at that kitchen table like the one I grew up at, wondering how we were going to pay the bills. He’s at the country club in Mar-a-Lago wondering how to cut taxes for his rich friends,” Walz said. “And I got to tell you, his running mate shares his dangerous and backwards agenda for this country.”
Walz noted that Vance wrote the foreword for an upcoming book by Kevin Roberts, the architect of The Heritage Foundation’s controversial Project 2025.
“Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, J.D. studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a best-seller trashing that community. Come on!” Walz continued. “That’s not what middle America is.”
Walz, who helped popularize Democrats’ messaging that Vance and Trump are “weird,” added, “Just an observation of mine that I made—I just have to say it. You know it, you feel it: These guys are creepy, and yes, just weird as hell.” The Philadelphia crowd chanted “he’s a weirdo!” when Vance’s name was mentioned earlier by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
