MSNBC’s McCaskill: ‘We Need to Lower Expectations’ for Walz Debate Performance

Monday, during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), now an MSNBC contributor, urged viewers to lower their expectations for Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) performance for Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate.

McCaskill said she anticipated Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) would be prepared for the debate.

“Yeah, I’m just a little worried about the expectations game at this point,” she said. “I think people — yes, J.D. 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. And I think it’s really going to be a challenge for Tim Walz to be able to counter what he is going to bring, and at the same time stay really likable and relatable, and then also instill confidence in the American people that he’s the better one to be in the wings in case something were to happen to the president.”

“So, 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.

Follow Jeff Poor on X @jeff_poor