Five Questions Tim Walz Will Get When He Debates JD Vance

And the answers he should give to them.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena on August 9, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

TUESDAY NIGHT’S VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE is a high-stakes standoff between two relative newcomers to the national political scene. But for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in particular, the upsides and pitfalls are numerous.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate is a character straight from Midwest central casting, folksy and down-to-earth. But on Tuesday night, he is likely to be tested like never before by Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who has twisted himself into MAGA on steroids. Trump’s uncompromising heir apparent goes into the evening with a clear purpose: tarnish Walz and make up for the ground Trump himself lost in his debate with Harris.

Here are five questions we expect Walz to face—and some of the responses we would suggest he offer.

Question 1: Gov. Walz, Republicans have charged the Biden-Harris administration with favoring open borders and creating incentives for people to come to this country illegally. Last year, you signed a bill in Minnesota that allows undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. Was that a mistake?

Answer: No. It was not a mistake. And let me explain why. We can be tough as nails on border security and smart on immigration at the same time. This is the vice president’s approach. It’s what she outlined at the border on Friday. We have put in tough new restrictions that have meant border crossings are down to a third of what they were last year. We did that with no help from Donald Trump, who demanded Republicans tank a border security bill because he wanted to run on chaos.

But we can’t end there. Kamala Harris has said she’d keep the tight border restrictions even after we hit the targets on lower border crossings. We can be tough on the border in other ways, too, including by building up the resources to adjudicate immigration cases far faster than we currently are doing.

At the same time, we need to harness the economic benefits that immigration provides us. We should encourage legal immigration when it adds to the vibrancy and vitality of America. As for undocumented immigrants, many are here not because they illegally crossed the border but because they overstayed a visa. Do we want them driving our roads without identification? Or do we want them licensed? I know that in Minnesota, I want to ensure that our families felt safe when they drove their kids to school. That’s common-sense stuff.

Here’s what isn’t common sense: ripping apart communities through a mass deportation policy that would sow chaos, confusion, and—by Donald Trump’s own admission—violence. Tell us, Mr. Vance, what happens to inflation if you deport all those skilled laborers willing to work for lower wages? I’ll tell you what happens: prices skyrocket.

Our opponents have no real plan for the border or for immigration. They know only how to demagogue the issue and spread hate and division.

Question 2: Gov. Walz, economists last week said they expected inflation to reach its 2 percent target by early next year. But Americans continue to feel left behind economically. The cost of everyday goods remains far too expensive. Many are concerned about their future. Why should Vice President Harris get another four years to alleviate concerns she and President Biden couldn’t fix over the past three?

Answer: The vice president and I take economic concerns very seriously. We know nothing matters more than believing that you and your family can get by and that you can leave a better life to your kids than the one you inherited. That’s why we want to invest in growing the middle class, expanding access to capital, and making sure that people have dignity at work. Our policies have had an impact. Bloomberg recently found that consumer confidence has taken a big jump and that the drop in inflation is going on amid a strong labor market and strong growth. That almost never happens.

We passed the Inflation Reduction Act. We passed the Infrastructure Act that is building roads, bridges, and internet infrastructure even in rural Minnesota. Remember how many times Trump told us it was “Infrastructure Week”? He couldn’t get it done. We did.

But we know we have more to do. We are offering America a “new way forward” that will help your family budget by cracking down on corporate greed and food price gouging. We’re proposing $25,000 in down payments for first-time home buyers and $6,000 tax benefit for parents with newborns. Our plan helps those who build the skyscrapers, not those who own them. Our plan helps the doorman at Trump Tower, not the owner of it.

What we absolutely cannot afford is what our Republican opponents are offering. Donald Trump’s plan to more than quadruple tariffs will stop our growing economy in its tracks. It will bring inflation roaring back. Don’t kid yourself. Tariffs are a tax on you, the consumer. China doesn’t pay for tariffs. Foreign manufacturers and suppliers of things we import pass the costs on to you in the prices of your clothes, electronics, and toys for kids.

Trump 2.0 is the same old tired policy that brought economic misery to America in the nineteenth century. It comes right out of Project 2025. And we know that it’s doomed to fail. How do we know it? Because back in 2020, even JD Vance in a moment of candor said that his running mate “thoroughly failed to deliver” when he was president. We can’t afford to give Trump a do-over.

Question 3: Gov. Walz, in Minnesota, you implemented free school breakfasts and lunches for everyone. You’ve been extremely proud of that policy. But under it, you decided to give free lunches to kids whose families are wealthy. Isn’t that socialism for the rich?

Answer: Absolutely not. We’re creating a healthy, prosperous Minnesota for everyone. And let me tell you, Minnesotans love it. Kids get fed and that gets them ready to learn. Parents don’t have to spend time filling out forms to see if they qualify. They save time in the morning getting ready for work. It saves everyone money because we didn’t have to create a whole new bureaucracy to decide if some child’s family qualifies for a free meal.

I was proud to sign that bill. What a monster I must be to want kids eating and having full bellies so they can learn.

But since you mentioned socialism for the rich, let me tell you, if you elect Trump and Vance that’s exactly what you’ll get. They will roll out every government favor for their wealthy patrons. They will undo the very regulations that make sure our kids eat healthy at school. They will pass huge tax cuts for billionaires. It’s all just another idea right out of the Project 2025 playbook.

Kamala Harris and I have a wildly different approach. We want a government that helps our kids, not our billionaires. We want opportunity, not handouts. Do you need evidence? President Biden had a $5,000 tax deduction for startup businesses. We’re multiplying that by ten to $50,000. We’re going to light up a new era of opportunity for American entrepreneurs and small businesses in cities, suburbs, and rural areas in red states and blue ones. All that other scaremongering talk about socialism is bullwash.

Question 4: Gov. Walz, Sen. Vance has called you a liar about your military record because you said you had seen combat. He’s noted that you did not serve in a combat zone, despite comments from you suggesting otherwise. You have been accused of exaggerating your rank. Do you regret statements you have made on your record?

Answer: I proudly served in the National Guard for twenty-four years and resigned when I made the decision to choose another path for public service and run for Congress. But I’m not just proud of my military service, I am grateful for all those who put on the uniform, including my opponent, Mr. Vance.

Are there times when I should have been more precise in how I spoke? Sure. But I stepped up and served—unlike Donald Trump, who avoided the draft by getting his dad to find a foot doctor to write a phony letter about bone spurs.

And here is another huge differentiator between me and Trump and JD Vance. When I misspeak, I say so. Sen. Vance makes up stories, as he did about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. And when he was caught, he boasted about his lying.

But the biggest difference is this: I have reverence for our veterans. Donald Trump thinks they are “suckers.” He said that about John McCain, a war hero. And he said that to Gen. John Kelly, whose own son was killed serving in combat.

Question 5: Gov. Walz, you once had an A-rating from the NRA. Now it’s an F. Are you a flip-flopper?

Answer: I’m a gun owner, just like Kamala Harris. In 2017, after a man with an assault rifle killed 58 people at a Las Vegas music festival, shooting them like ducks in a barrel from a 32nd-floor hotel room, I returned all the money I ever received from the NRA. I was sickened. I knew we needed a ban on assault rifles. That’s called protecting our kids even if some lobby doesn’t want you to.

I’m a Second Amendment guy. But most gun owners agree that we can have firearms and also reasonable regulations on who can own guns and how they can be used. They agree with Vice President Harris and me that the freedom Americans cherish includes the right to be free from gun violence.

We need leaders in politics who see the world changing and adjust to it. Of all people, JD Vance should recognize that. After all, has anyone changed on the issues more than JD Vance? In 2016, he said he feared that Trump would be “America’s Hitler”—his words! Now, he’s running to elevate a person he once called Hitler. I don’t know about you, but I think flipping on Hitler is a bit different than waking up to the need to ban assault weapons.