J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, says he isn’t sweating next week’s vice presidential debate against Minnesota governor Tim Walz.
“We have well-developed views on public policy, so we don’t have to prepare that much,” the Ohio senator told the New York Post Wednesday, adding that he won’t be participating in any kind of bootcamp to prepare himself for the debate on Tuesday.
The New York Times reported that Walz’s team, on the other hand, will hold a multi-day debate camp in rural Michigan, aiming to closely replicate the conditions of a live TV debate.
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“Kamala Harris’ record is one of unaffordable groceries, unaffordable housing and Americans who are losing their jobs,” Vance added. “So I don’t think we have to prepare that much because we don’t have to hide our record from the American people—we just have to talk about it.”
Both Walz and Vance are engaging in mock debates as a way to practice for the event, which will take place in New York City and be hosted by CBS News.
In Walz’s, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is acting as Vance’s stand-in. Meanwhile, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, is playing Walz for Vance.
A person familiar with Vance’s debate-prep routine told the Post that the practice sessions have mostly been at his home in Cincinnati with the assistance of his wife, Usha Vance.
Reports of Walz and Vance’s unequal levels of preparation for the debate come after the Democrat downplayed expectations for how he would perform—and raised those for his opponent.
“Look, he’s Yale Law guy,” he said on MSNBC soon after Harris and Trump’s debate. “I’m a public school teacher. So we know where he’s at on that.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” he added. “I will work hard. That’s what I do. I fully expect that Senator Vance, as a United States senator, a Yale Law guy, he will come well-prepared.”
