Tim Walz may have more to lose in Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, but JD Vance has more to prove. And spinmeisters in both parties are ready to pounce on reporters and airwaves to make the case that their guy came out on top.
Vance is the closest any vice presidential candidate has come to being the proverbial heartbeat away from the presidency following one actual and several foiled assassination attempts against Donald Trump. And Trump-Vance surrogates, including the GOP nominee’s own son, Donald Trump Jr., will be on hand in the spin room after the high-stakes debate in New York ready to explain why Vance not only won the debate—even if he actually didn’t—but deserves to be vice president more than Walz, and claim the throne of first in the presidential line of succession.
The junior Trump was one of Vance’s prime advocates during the veepstakes contest, pushing his father to select his close friend, the Ohio senator, despite some donors’ concerns. Multiple assassination attempts later, Don Jr. told Fox News he felt “totally vindicated” by the pick.
“He’s been absolutely outstanding,” he said. “JD is a guy of substance. He’s a guy that’s lived that American Dream, coming out of Appalachia to become, now, the vice presidential candidate for the Republican Party in the United States. But beyond that, building businesses and everything along the way.”
Expect similar talking points Tuesday night. Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller, as well as a slew of congressional Republicans, will join the younger Trump in the spin room, NOTUS first reported.
Those lawmakers include two House lawmakers who somewhat openly auditioned to be Trump’s No. 2 pick: one-time moderate, Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York, and Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida. The GOP’s spin crew also includes Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, another archconservative Trump loyalist, and freshman Sen. Katie Britt Alabama, who delivered a widely-mocked response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in March that became an SNL cold open classic.
Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison will be in the spin room on behalf of Walz, according to the Harris-Walz campaign. He, too, will be joined by several members of Congress, including Kamala Harris’ veepstakes finalist Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), along with: Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Walz’s home state of Minnesota and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico; Govs. Jared Polis of Colorado and JB Pritzker of Illinois; and Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas.
