Tim Walz delivered a master class in local restaurant campaigning during a visit to Lanza, Nebraska, earlier this week, MSNBC anchor Alex Wagner and analyst Tim Miller explained. It was a stark contrast to J.D. Vance’s visit to a doughnut shop on Thursday. “I was embarrassed on J.D.’s behalf,” said Miller of the anti-Trump conservative media outlet The Bulwark.
“He’s an uncomfortable guy,” Miller said of the Republican vice presidential nominee, “and I think the selection of Walz presents a stark contrast in terms of who is going to be able to really address the concerns of working people.”
“J.D. Vance was the kind of guy that Donald Trump’s son said to him, ‘This guy is great with the working class. They like him. He wrote that book,'” Miller said, referring to Vance’s hit memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” “The fact is, it was mostly New York liberals who were reading J.D. Vance’s books at the time. It wasn’t working-class people.”
Vance’s awkward doughnut shop in Georgia went viral after social media users were stunned by his awkward interactions with store staff. He was in Valdosta, Georgia on a campaign trip when he decided to visit Holt’s Sweet Shop. In a video of the visit, the woman behind the counter tells Vance she doesn’t want to be recorded, to which Vance instructs media members to “cut her out altogether.” Some did, but the woman was seen in the original C-SPAN video that was circulated online.
And he said, “I’m J.D. Vance, and I’m running for vice president.” The woman simply replied, “Okay.”
The Democratic vice presidential nominee’s visit to Lanza was surprisingly unusual: Waltz and his wife, Gwen, stopped by the restaurant last weekend and were quick to apologize: “Sorry for keeping you waiting.”
“We really just came out to go to Lanza, but we also had a little rally,” the Minnesota governor joked to smiling staff, before shaking hands with a cashier who said, “I’m a big fan.”
The liberal media watchdog group MeidasTouch published a side-by-side look at Vance and Waltz’s interactions at the fast-food restaurant.
Those interactions “don’t come naturally” to Vance, Miller said. “It’s not something that comes naturally to him. So I think Walz running really highlights that hypocrisy and his failure to truly represent working people.”
As X-user Conor Rogers pointed out, Vance’s experience at the doughnut shop illustrates the poor handling of his visit by the campaign’s advance team.
This may be the worst pre-work I’ve ever seen
– Staff have not been briefed and do not know who he is
– Staff refuse to appear on camera
– The principal (JD) doesn’t know what to order or how to order it.
– Silence during formal questions
– The filler does not include supporters https://t.co/Fp1qb2QxYg
— Connor Rogers (@conorjrogers) August 22, 2024
You can watch the MSNBC debate between Alex Wagner and Tim Miller in the video at the top of this article.
The post MSNBC Compares J.D. Vance’s ‘Awkward’ Donut Order at Sandwich Shop to Tim Waltz: ‘Suffering from Vicarious Embarrassment’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap
