Former Obama adviser David Axelrod suggested Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, was better prepared for Tuesday night’s vice-presidential debate because he had been frequently engaging with the media while his opponent, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “has not.”
“Vance was chosen by Trump to be his designated hitter on TV and he is ubiquitous on these Sunday shows and in interviews. He has been prepping, not just for the last week, but through these appearances, Walz has not,” Axelrod said Tuesday on CNN.
Vance and Walz will face off in their first and likely only debate before the November election on Tuesday. The debate will be moderated by CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan.
According to staffers for the Walz campaign, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate is reportedly nervous about coming off poorly during the debate and letting down his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
TRUMP-VANCE TICKET HAS DONE COMBINED 60 INTERVIEWS SINCE LAST MONTH COMPARED TO 21 FOR HARRIS-WALZ
Axelrod said these leaked comments to the media show that his campaign is “actively trying to lower expectations” for the Democrat ahead of the debate.
“It’s interesting to me that the campaign has basically leaked over the last 24 hours, ‘Well, he told us that he wasn‘t a good debater.’ I mean, they‘re actively trying to lower expectation for Walz,” he continued.
“[V]ance is very good at this. And he was chosen for that. Walz was chosen for that affability, that warmth. And the question is, is it going to be a Labrador Retriever versus a coyote? And how does that turn out?” Axelrod asked.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The Democratic presidential ticket still lags behind the Republican ticket in sitting down for interviews with the media, though Harris has stepped up her appearances in recent days.
Trump and Vance have sat down for at least 60 interviews since the Harris-Walz ticket was formed, as of Monday, compared to 21 non-scripted interviews for Harris and Walz.
Former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill argued on MSNBC that the media should “lower” its expectations for Walz’s performance on Tuesday.
“I’m just a little worried about the expectations game at this point. I think people — yes, JD Vance has said some really, I think, disqualifying things about women and how he views people and their role in life. But he will be articulate and he will be prepared and he will be better than Trump was,” she said on the liberal network on Sunday.
“I just think we need to lower expectations a little bit, because then we can all be pleasantly surprised if I’m wrong and that Tim Walz just mops the floor with him the same way Kamala Harris mopped the floor with Donald Trump,” McCaskill added.
Fox News’ Brian Flood and Hanna Panreck contributed to this article.
