J.D. Vance Fumbles Big-Time While Trying to Insult Tim Walz

J.D. Vance made some cringe-worthy mistakes and a Freudian slip at his comments in Milwaukee on Friday. 

Speaking to the Milwaukee Police Association, Vance took a question from a reporter who asked about a recent ABC/IPSOS poll showing voters view Minnesota Governor Tim Walz more favorably than Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick. The Ohio senator’s troubles began when he started out by appearing to misgender the reporter. 

“What’s your response to that poll, and what can you do ahead of the October debate to try to win over more Americans?” asked the journalist.  

Instead of answering the question, Vance tried to deflect by associating Walz with the Black Lives Matter Protests of 2020—but fell right on his face. 

“This is a guy who actively encouraged rioters to burn down Minneapolis during the summer of 2020, it’s the biggest city in his country,” said Vance. “His running mate, Kamala Harris, was offering to burn—to bail those rioters out of prison.” 

During the protests, Harris did tweet out a link to Minnesota Freedom Fund, a nonprofit organization that operates a bail fund. But claiming that she was personally involved is dubious. 

Vance also clearly needs a geography lesson, as he then went on to say that Walz “let rioters burn down the largest city in Minneapolis.” 

In the same breath, Vance misspoke yet again. “I think when people know the truth about Harris and Walz, their anti-crime record …” Vance said before pausing, looking frustrated at his mistakes. 

Referring to the Democrats’ record as “anti-crime” is something that Harris and Walz wouldn’t dispute. Considering the vice president’s background as a prosecutor and the Minneapolis Minnesota governor’s experience cracking down on gun-related crime, they probably wouldn’t mind the framing. 

It seems like Vance is trying to give Trump a run for his money for most flubs in one minute. 

Is Donald Trump really trying to get out of debating Kamala Harris again? Or is it the opposite?

On Thursday, it seemed like the dust had finally settled. “The debate about debates is over,” said Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign communications director, in a statement. “Donald Trump’s campaign accepted our proposal for three debates—two presidential and a vice presidential debate.”

“Assuming Donald Trump actually shows up on September 10 to debate Vice President Harris, then Governor Walz will see JD Vance on October 1 and the American people will have another opportunity to see the vice president and Donald Trump on the debate stage in October,” the Harris campaign continued.

But now, Trump’s team claims that the Democrat lied when she said the two sides reached a debate agreement. At the moment, there is only one confirmed debate between the presidential nominees, to be held September 10 by ABC News.

Nevertheless, the Trump campaign’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Caller Friday that Trump will be doing three debates and Vance will be doing two.

“Let’s be clear: President Trump will be on the debate stage THREE times with Fox News, ABC, and NBC/Telemundo. Likewise, Senator Vance will show up to debate Tim Walz on TWO occasions, on September 18 with CNN and October 1 with CBS. If Harris and Walz don’t show up, an empty podium can stand in their place, proving to the American people just how weak they are,” Leavitt told the Caller.

Trump had waffled for months on whether he would debate Harris, finally announcing he wanted to debate her three times on ABC, CBS, and Fox News. Harris accepted the invitations for the ABC and CBS debates but not for the one hosted by the Trump-adoring Fox.

Vance, confusingly, proposed two vice presidential debates as opposed to the traditional one. One of his proposed dates is the same day Trump is due to be sentenced for his hush-money trial.

The Trump campaign went to paint the Democratic strategy as such: “They are trying to get away with seeing how she performs on the September debate, and then maybe they’ll commit to an October debate,” Leavitt said.

Trump may also make an escape plan for the September debate by highlighting Harris’s personal connection to ABC executive Dana Walden.

It seems like both sides are trying to paint the other as scared to debate, which may end up resulting in more and more appearances—or perhaps in none at all.

The fake electors who worked to overturn the 2020 presidential election results still have their hands in American politics.

The fake electors have since donated en masse to Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance, along with scores of other Republicans, according to campaign finance records obtained by The Guardian.

Meshawn Maddock, one of the 16 fake electors criminally charged in Michigan and former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, has donated more than $1,800 to Trump this campaign cycle. Tyler Bowyer, a charged fake elector in Arizona, has donated $645 to the Republican nominee. A fake elector in Georgia who has not been criminally charged, David Hanna, has given at least $25,000 to Trump this year alone.

“It is incredibly rare for politicians to accept campaign contributions from people under indictment,” Michael Beckel, the research director at election watchdog group Issue One, told The Guardian. “It’s generally not good optics for politicians to accept money from people accused of serious wrongdoing. Political candidates generally don’t want to be tied to convicted or accused felons. Yet in certain circles, association with the people who served as fake electors for Donald Trump in 2020 may be a badge of honor.”

Republicans running in U.S. House races have also benefited from their affiliation to Trump and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, raking in campaign contributions from the fake electors on their home turf. In 2023, Arizona Representative Eli Crane received $2,900 from Jim Lamon, one of the 18 criminally charged co-defendants in that state, and Representative Yvette Herrell has received more than $3,000 and $2,900 from a pair of fake electors in New Mexico.

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has just turned into a thunderdome, as his newest hire seems to spell trouble for his current staff, according to a report from Puck News published Thursday.

Corey Lewandowski, who served as one of Trump’s campaign managers in 2016, was brought aboard the Trump team earlier this week, carrying with him a history of alleged misconduct and his “Let Trump Be Trump” attitude. Lewandowski will serve as a senior adviser, reportedly above campaign co-managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.

The decision to formally bring Lewandowski back into the fold, after he served as an informal adviser, came straight from Trump, according to Puck’s senior political correspondent Tara Palmeri. The move has launched speculation that Trump intends for Lewandowski’s return to result in the removal of LaCivita and Wiles.

“Susie is a survivor; she’s not going anywhere. But then you have LaCivita and Corey Lewandowski, two alpha men,” a source close to Lewandowski told Palameri. “It’s like Trump just wants them to kill each other and for one to win so he doesn’t have to actually fire anyone.”

As Trump’s team has struggled to maintain an effective line of attack against its new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, the campaign has been forced to defend LaCivita and Wiles for their floundering efforts.

There is also one big reason to believe LaCivita is more vulnerable than his counterpart: his exorbitant fee. Advanced Strategies, LaCivita’s firm, has been collecting $50,000 from the Republican National Committee each month, contributing to the whopping $1.7 million he’s already invoiced in just 2024—quickly surpassing the $1.65 million he billed the year before, according to Puck.

Trump is clearly trying to recreate the behind-the-scenes magic that got him elected in the first place. But unfortunately for his staff, that involved major late-campaign turnover. The former president fired Lewandowski from his campaign in June 2016 and promoted Paul Manafort.

For his part, Lewandowski seemed to deny rumors he would take LaCivita to task over his mounting bills. “I have never told anyone I will be conducting a forensic audit of the campaign, nor have I alluded to, or have any understanding of, how much money Chris LaCivita may or may not have billed this campaign,” Lewandowski told Palameri, adding that rumors he was there to push anyone out were “fake news.”

Lewandowski’s arrival comes with a slate of other aides from old Trump campaigns, and more are sure to follow. “There are things and people that swirl around Lewandowski, and if you bring him back on, they’re coming with him,” the source close to Lewandowski told Palameri. “He’s a mini tornado. He stirs things up and brings things into the orbit.”

Lewandowski’s hiring signals Trump’s desire to be surrounded by those who agree with him and won’t try to change him—while many of the former president’s own allies have begun urging him to do the exact opposite of his favored strategy of personal attacks.

Project 2025, the conservative manifesto put together by the Heritage Foundation, is starting to worry Republicans, including Donald Trump, who see it as a political liability.

These Republicans are trying desperately to figure out how to handle the negative attention from the project, which Democrats have seized on in effective attacks against Trump and the GOP.

“There came a point at which people realized, ‘Oh, you might have actually done something that jeopardizes Heritage’s influence in the next administration,” one source close to the conservative organization told NOTUS.

When Democrats started to attack Project 2025, Heritage staff saw it as “fun” initially, but that was short-lived after Trump, fed up with the negative association with his presidential campaign, disavowed the project.

“People are legitimately worried,” the source said.

The foundation tried to downplay the plan, only to find that it didn’t help in the face of Democratic attacks, which have continued unabated. One Democratic group has even started to specifically target certain House Republicans by tying them to the manifesto.

The fallout of Trump’s frustration with being tied to the project led to the resignation of Project 2025’s director, Paul Dans, who some conservatives see as taking the fall for Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts. Roberts marketed the plan much more heavily than the foundation normally would for its projects.

As more and more revelations come out about the project, Democrats have more avenues to attack it, especially as Roberts continues to defend it and even brag about his associations with Trump. A photo revealed that the two even took a private flight together in 2022. And Trump’s vehement denial of having anything to do with the manifesto has drawn the ire of some of his biggest supporters. No matter what they do, conservatives are stuck.