Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz should have gotten a pre-debate briefing from Doug Emhoff, a guy who knows how to throw a punch.

That way Walz, Kamala Harris’ often cartoonish-like vice-presidential running mate, could have gotten a few jabs in during his debate with Republican Sen. J.D. Vance.

Emhoff is, of course, the husband of the Democratic nominee, who before he married her and became the nation’s “Second Gentleman,” was known to have a way with the ladies.

One way was to slap them around the way Walz was supposed to do — but did not — to Vance.

If the vice-presidential debate between Walz and Vance, who is Donald Trump’s running mate, were a 10-round boxing match, the referee would have waved Walz out of the ring after the first couple of rounds for failing to throw any punches.

The only punch Walz landed was one to himself when he meandered in trying to explain why he repeatedly claimed he was in Hong Kong during the deadly 1989 pro-democracy Tiananmen Square riots when he was not.

Vance walked away the winner without a scratch.

But it was a mismatch to begin with. As avuncular as Walz attempts to come across, he clearly was out of his league in his first nationalized television debate.

But it was Vance’s first big time debate as well. The difference is that Vance was prepared. He trained hard for it by subjecting himself to interactions with and questions from reporters at dozens of appearances.

Walz, like Harris, avoided reporters, answered hardly any questions and was simply not ready for primetime.

The debate showed that despite criticism, Vance is an asset to Trump. It also showed that Walz is not much of an asset to Harris.

The Hong Kong claim is only one of several Walz’s fabrications or embellishments regarding his record.

Yes, it is true he was in Hong Kong. It was just not at the time of Tiananmen Square protests.

Walz putting himself there is like me bragging about being at Omaha Beach at Normandy, which I was. Only it was 10 years after the June 6, 1944, U.S. led Normandy Invasion that turned the tide of World War II.

Even getting Walz to admit he “misspoke,” or lied, was like pulling teeth.

“I’ve not been perfect,” he said. “I’m a knucklehead at times.” He added, “Many times I will talk a lot. I will get caught up in the rhetoric.”

Rather than stagger through the debate, Walz should have come out swinging, and there was no better person to help him do that than Doug Emhoff.

The story about Emhoff swinging at a woman that broke around debate time is important in that he could become the “First Gentleman” should Harris become president.

It is also important in that Emhoff, in a fawning MSNBC interview by Jen Psaki, Joe Biden’s former press secretary, talked about his role in “reshaping masculinity” by being a supportive spouse.

Emhoff said, “I’ve always been like this. My dad’s always been like this. To me, it’s the right thing to do, support women. It is mutual with Kamala and I. We support each other, we have each other’s back.”

He said, “Women should not have less rights and be treated differently. That’s not the American way.”

Hardly had the interview concluded than the Daily Mail and New York Post broke a story about Emhoff reportedly assaulting his then girlfriend, a New York attorney, by hitting her so hard in the face that it spun her around and left her sobbing.

The alleged incident occurred at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in Antibes, France, when the unidentified woman called “Jane” was speaking to a hotel valet, a conversation that Emhoff took as flirting.

Jane’s friends, fearing retaliation, chose to remain anonymous. One of them told the paper that Jane “slapped him back. My impression is that he had a lot to drink. She was sobbing” on the phone afterwards.

Another friend said, “She had never been hit in her life.” She “is a gorgeous, strong woman and you would never expect somebody to hit her.”

But give Emhoff a break. It was all probably due to Emhoff’s reshaping of masculinity.

Peter Lucas is a veteran political reporter. Email him at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com

In case Tim Walz needs a refresher: In this June 5, 1989, file photo, a Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing’s Changan Blvd. in Tiananmen Square. (AP Photo/Jeff Widener, File)