Trump advisor calls Tim Walz an “effeminate caricature” in lead-up to VP debate

Jason Miller, senior advisor to former President Donald Trump, called Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz (MN) “effeminate” in the lead-up to Walz’s Tuesday night debate against Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH).

“Walz was very good in debates,” Miller told CNN on Tuesday morning. “I want to repeat that Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years. He’ll be very well prepared. He’s not going to be the wildly gesticulating effeminate caricature we see at rallies pointing to Kamala Harris and dancing about on the stage.”

Related:

JD Vance contradicts Trump, praising “admirable” anti-abortion & IVF laws

He praised a collection of essays that blame IVF and childless women for harming America.

Pressing Miller to explain his comment, CNN anchor Masie Hunt replied, “Effeminate has a lot of specific connotations to it.”

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Miller replied, “Well, uh. Goofy and bouncing around. It’s not someone who comes across as this alpha male, someone who’s a killer that’s going to come out there and be sharp on the debate stage. But that’s what we’re going to see tonight with Tim Walz. Again, not to say that JD Vance isn’t going to show up and do very well, but Tim Walz will be an absolute killer.”

Numerous online pundits have said “masculinity” has become a subtext this election, with Vance and Trump positioning themselves as “strongman” candidates who will “protect” women by upholding conservative gender roles. The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, has painted Republicans’s anti-abortion policies as a threat to women’s bodily autonomy and the right of all Americans to make personal medical decisions.

Walz is a father, a hunter, a former military servicemember, and a former football coach who has steadfastly supported LGBTQ+, reproductive, and workers’ rights. Vance is also a father and former military service member, but he is opposed to LGBTQ+ rights (including marriage equality) and has made repeated statements criticizing women who don’t have children, even going so far as to characterize them and stepparents as “miserable childless cat ladies.”

Out gay Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said he expects Vance to appeal to transphobia during Tuesday night’s debate.

“His favorables are underwater. We know that Gov. Walz is popular with the electorate, so I expect [Vance] to be nasty and lie and bring up, you know, parts of the record — it would not surprise me for him to bring that up,” Garcia told The Washington Blade, adding, “[Vance] will say whatever it takes to try to get support.”

“But I think the governor is well prepared,” Gracia added. “[Walz has] talked about being a dad and being a governor for all people, and not bullying kids and not bullying young people, and I think people will relate to that.”

Last week, Miller said Trump would support Republican attorneys general monitoring women’s pregnancies to prosecute them for getting out-of-state abortions.

In May 2021, a court tossed Miller’s defamation lawsuit against a now-defunct website that accurately reported court documents alleging that Miller had an extra-marital affair with a female stripper who he then “surreptitiously dosed… with an abortion pill” after finding out she was pregnant. The dosing led the woman to abort and nearly die, she alleged.

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