Tim Walz’s first outing as Kamala Harris’s vice presidential candidate was memorable, at least for those present at yesterday’s rally at Temple University in Philadelphia, where the Minnesota governor immediately lashed out at Donald Trump and his vice president JD Vance on one of the most sensitive issues of the electoral campaign: abortion rights.
“In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the choices they make, even if we wouldn’t do the same,” Walz said, to applause from thousands of people gathered at the Liacouras Center in the northern part of Pennsylvania’s most populous city. “There’s a golden rule: Mind your own f***.”
What Tim Walz Said in His First Speech
A few hours after the announcement officialWalz showed up in Philadelphia alongside the vice president and Democratic candidate in pectore, who has introduced to the crowd as “the teacher that everyone dreams of and that all students deserve,” recalling his past as an educator and often calling him “coach,” for having coached high school football. “He is the vice president that the United States deserves,” Kamala Harris added. “Comparing him to Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, she concluded, is “like comparing the varsity team to the junior varsity team.”
He didn’t need to be asked twice and first thanked the vice president: “Thank you for the trust you’ve placed in me, but maybe even more, thank you for bringing joy back to me,” said Walz, who praised Kamala Harris for always “fighting on the side of the American people.”
“He took on the predators, he took on the scammers, he took down the international gangs,” added the Minnesota governor, remembering the resume of the former California prosecutor. “She stood up to powerful corporate interests and never hesitated to reach out if it meant improving people’s lives.”
But then he started talking about himself, recalling his roots in the rural Midwest. “I was born in West Point, Nebraska. I lived in Butte, a town of 400 people, where community was a way of life,” Walz said. “Growing up, I spent summers working on the family farm. My mom and dad taught us, ‘Show generosity to your neighbors and work for the common good.’”
He then spoke about his time in the military after enlisting in the National Guard at the age of 17. “For 24 years, I have proudly worn the uniform of this nation,” Kamala Harris’s deputy recalled. “The National Guard has given me a sense of purpose and strength in a shared commitment to something bigger than ourselves.”
But the presidential campaign, Walz added, is merely a continuation of that public service. “We have 91 days. We will sleep when we die,” he shouted to the crowd. “In those 91 days, and every day in the White House, I will support Kamala Harris, and together we will support you.”
“Never underestimate teachers,” he then warned the audience, returning to his biography and that of his wife and family. “I can’t wait for all of you in America to meet my incredible wife, Gwen, a public school teacher for 29 years. Never underestimate teachers,” he repeated. “My father was a teacher, and my brothers and sisters and I followed in his footsteps. Three out of four of us married teachers. That’s what we do,” he recalled, explaining what, or rather who, inspired him to enter politics.
“My students encouraged me to run,” Walz said. “They saw in me what I hoped to instill in them: a commitment to the common good. A belief that one person can make a difference. And because high school teachers are very optimistic, I ran in a district that a Democrat hadn’t won since 1892,” added Kamala Harris’s running mate, who then went on to attack the Republican candidates, calling them once again “weird as hell.”
The former president in particular, Walz said, is only interested in his own interests. “Now, Donald Trump sees the world a little differently than we do. First of all, he doesn’t know anything about public service. He doesn’t have time for it because he’s too busy serving himself,” the Minnesota governor explained. “He never sat at a kitchen table, like the one I grew up at, wondering how to pay the bills. He sits at his country club at Mar-a-Lago wondering how to cut taxes for his rich friends.” Walz then took a low blow to the Republican mogul. “There’s no doubt about it, violent crime was on the rise under Donald Trump, not to mention the crimes he committed himself,” he added.
But on one of the thorniest issues at the heart of the campaign, abortion, Walz stressed his Midwestern values and attacked Republicans’ anti-abortion agenda. “In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the choices they make, even if we wouldn’t do the same. There’s a golden rule: Mind your own f***,” he concluded, adding that he “can’t wait” to debate Trump’s running mate, JD Vance. “But I gotta tell you, these guys are creepy, weird as hell.”
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