Tim Walz couch joke explained; what he said about JD Vance

Portrait of Damon C. Williams Damon C. Williams
USA TODAY NETWORK

Minnesota governor and Democratic VP pick Tim Walz waded into internet meme territory Tuesday with a snappy one-liner about JD Vance.

During the Harris-Walz rally in Philadelphia, Walz delivered a couch-related zinger to Republican VP nominee Vance.

Here's what Tim Walz said about JD Vance and the much-discussed couch.

Tim Walz tells JD Vance to 'get off the couch' and agree to debate

During his speech at the Harris-Walz rally at Temple University in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Walz set up the zinger by telling the crowd that JD Vance doesn't represent the midwesterners Walz grew up with.

Vice President Kamala Harris stands with her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as Harris holds a rally at Temple University in Philadelphia on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.

"JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley millionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community," Walz said. "C'mon; that's not what middle America is."

Then came the zinger.

"And I gotta tell ya; I can't wait to debate this guy," Walz continued, before pausing for dramatic effect. "That's if he's willing to get off the couch and show up.

"See what I did there?"

The joke appeared to be off-script, given the facial reaction of running mate Vice President Kamala Harris, which sent the partisan crowd at the Liacouras Center into a frenzy.

JD Vance couch joke explained

Tim Walz' jab at JD Vance has many levels, and grew out of the false allegations that JD Vance had sex with his couch.

That many respected news outlets ran with it as fact only fueled the joke, which lead to the creation of several JD Vance couch sex-related memes and spawned dozens of related social media accounts.

JD Vance couch story

Social media then amplified the JD Vance couch sex rumor even further by tying it to Vance's book, "Hillbilly Elegy," a best-selling memoir written by Vance in 2016 and made into a film in 2020.

Many JD couch-meme creators have identified themselves and seem to enjoy that these memes generated so much traction that well-known publications had to issue corrections and retract stories that stated it as fact that JD Vance had intercourse with his couch.

Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending topics across the Mid-Atlantic Region.