Breaking: Harris taps Walz as running mate
Vice President Kamala Harris taps Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as second, playing to Democratic base
(Updated: 11:02a ET)
Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, the Democratic nominee announced Tuesday morning.
“One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep. It's personal,” Harris said in a statement released by her campaign. “As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his own. We are going to build a great partnership. We start out as underdogs but I believe together, we can win this election.”
The two are scheduled to make their first joint campaign appearance together in Philadelphia this evening — ironic in part as the vice president skipped over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro for the nod, but keeping with a long-running tradition of nominees not rolling out running mates in their home states.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to join Kamala Harris,” Walz wrote in a statement on social media giant X.com. “Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school. So, let’s get this done, folks! Join us.”
CNN first reported Walz’s selection Tuesday morning.
The decision, part of a rapid-fire vetting process which started almost immediately after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race two weeks ago, sets the Democratic ticket as Democrats prepare for the convention in Chicago just under two weeks from now.
Democrats and progressive activists quickly rallied to Walz’s side Tuesday morning in a show of party unity, including Shapiro himself, touting the two-term Minnesota governor and former longtime House member as sensible and “comfortable in his own skin.”
The executive director of the progressive group birthed from the 2016 campaign of Bernie Sanders, Our Revolution, praised Walz’s progressive bona fides Tuesday.
"Governor Walz's strong pro-labor record and dedication to working-class issues align with our movement's goals to take on corporate power and create an economy that works for everyone,” Our Revolution executive director, Joseph Geevarghese, said in a statement. “His leadership in Minnesota, from expanding workers' rights to tackling corporate influence, showcases his commitment to policies that benefit the many, not the few."
But Republicans and former president Donald Trump’s campaign were quick to blast the selection of Walz over Shapiro as evidence that Harris and the Democrats were extremists playing to a hyper-partisan base on the left.
“Walz is obsessed with spreading California’s dangerously liberal agenda far and wide. If Walz won’t tell voters the truth, we will: just like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerously liberal extremist, and the Harris-Walz California dream is every American’s nightmare,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Walz emerged as a favorite among Democrats over the last two weeks in part with his persistent labelling of Trump and running mate J.D. Vance as “weird”. But veteran Republicans said it was Walz who is “weird”.
“Harris doubled down on weird in this choice. I guess Minnesota really is in play,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, told 24sight News Tuesday, referring to the Trump campaign’s earlier assessment that they could win in Minnesota and Virginia in November.
This is a breaking story and will be updated throughout the day. Send comments and reaction to tom@24sight.news.