Tim Walz Lauds Record, Attacks Trump in First Rally as Vice Presidential Candidate

Tim Walz touted his rural roots and claimed Donald Trump would take America “backwards,” appearing for the first time as Kamala Harris’s running mate at a raucous Democratic Party rally.

At an event in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, the party’s new vice presidential nominee said his Republican rivals in the November election were “weird as hell.”

The Minnesota governor spoke before thousands of supporters, hours after being announced as Ms Harris’s choice for the role.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign was quick to attack Mr. Walz as a “dangerously liberal extremist.”

The 60-year-old is seen as someone who could win back rural and working-class voters who backed Donald Trump in crucial Midwestern states.

Speaking at the rally in the key state of Pennsylvania, Ms Harris, the current US vice president, said she and Mr Walz were the “underdogs” in what is expected to be a close election, but that they had the momentum.

He introduced his running mate as “a fighter for the middle class, a patriot.”

Mr. Walz then recounted his small-town Nebraska roots and his career as a National Guardsman and teacher, before attempting to draw comparisons to Mr. Trump.

“He doesn’t know anything about serving in the military, because he’s too busy serving himself,” said the former Army sergeant and football coach.

He received some of the loudest applause of the night when he took aim at the former president’s criminal record, with chants of “lock him up” from those in the arena.

He also drew applause when he launched a viral attack line that caught the attention of Harris’s campaign as she was considering who would be her running mate.

“These guys are creepy and, yeah, really weird,” Mr. Walz said, referring to their Republican challengers.

The governor also said he “looks forward to having a conversation” with Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, “if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up, of course.”

The couple has presented themselves primarily as defenders of individual liberties, including abortion rights and safety from gun violence.

Mr. Walz displayed the outspoken, grassroots style that has won him praise from Democrats when he attacked Republicans on the issue of abortion access.

“Mind your own business!” he said, eliciting a cheer from the crowd of more than 10,000 at Temple University.

Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz have just begun a five-day tour of key swing states.

They will also speak at the Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Chicago from August 19 to 22.

As Minnesota’s current two-term governor, Mr. Walz has overseen one of the most productive legislative periods in the state’s history, implementing a broad progressive agenda.

Democrats have used their control of state legislatures to secure abortion rights, pass gun control measures, and institute paid parental leave.

Republicans have criticized Walz for Minnesota’s mask mandate and its closures of businesses and schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its delay in sending the National Guard to address the riots that followed the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Also present in Philadelphia on Tuesday morning was Mr. Vance, Trump’s running mate, who attacked the new Democratic nominee for the White House.

The Ohio senator told reporters that Ms. Harris’s choice of Mr. Walz shows that “when given the opportunity, she will kneel before the most radical elements of her party.”

The Trump campaign said in a statement: “Just like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerously liberal extremist, and the Harris-Walz California dream is every American’s nightmare.”

President Joe Biden, who suspended his campaign last month and endorsed Ms. Harris, said in a statement that the Democratic ticket “will be the strongest defenders of our personal freedoms and our democracy.”

Another of Harris’s vice presidential finalists, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, was also at the rally.

He had been harshly criticized by the left for his support for Israel and for his handling of the university protests sparked by the war in Gaza.

Some Trump advisers expressed relief that Ms. Harris did not pick Mr. Shapiro, because they feared he might help a major state like Pennsylvania thrive.

Prior to entering the governor’s office, Mr. Walz represented a Republican-leaning district in the United States Congress for 12 years.

He won that seat in 2006, becoming the only Democrat to do so in a mostly rural district in the past three decades.

Mr. Walz is a native of Nebraska, the son of a school principal and a homemaker.

He grew up farming and hunting and served in the Army National Guard for 24 years, enlisting at age 17.

The younger Mr. Walz has also taught secondary school students, first for a year in China, a country he says he has visited about 30 times. He speaks some Mandarin.

His wife Gwen Whipple, also a teacher, took him to her homeland, Minnesota, where he taught social studies and geography and coached a football team.