The selection process was carried out at breakneck speed – now Democrat Kamala Harris and her vice president Tim Walz are campaigning together for the first time. Opponent Donald Trump is scathing about the “left-wing radical duo”.
The Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her newly chosen vice president Tim Walz appeared together for the first time at a campaign event to thunderous applause. Supporters of their party welcomed the duo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the start of a tour of politically contested states that are likely to play a key role in the November election.
“We are the underdogs in this race,” Harris said of the election campaign against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his vice president JD Vance. She herself only moved into the front row two weeks ago after US President Joe Biden announced he would not run again. “But we have the momentum and I know exactly what we are dealing with.”
With Walz, she has a leader at her side, said Harris. He is “the kind of vice president America deserves.” In her speech, the 59-year-old highlighted the political profile of her running mate, emphasizing, among other things, his support for military veterans, unions, liberal abortion rights and stricter gun laws. Just a few hours earlier, she had made him her vice president.
Walz has been governor of the state of Minnesota since 2019 and previously served for a long time as a member of the House of Representatives. Before his political career, he worked for a long time as a teacher. The married father of two children does not have a strong national profile, but is known for his down-to-earth nature and direct way of conveying political messages. His wife Gwen is also a teacher.
Walz goes straight on a collision course
In his new role, Walz promptly launched a verbal attack on the Republican opposition. The 60-year-old made fun of Trump and Vance, accusing them of being dishonest. “Donald Trump is not fighting for you or your family,” Walz said of the former president – and then added, referring to his own childhood in the rural US state of Nebraska: “He never sat at a kitchen table like the one I grew up at, where we wondered how we were going to pay the bills. He sat at his country club in Mar-a-Lago and thought about how he could lower taxes for his rich friends.”
He had a sarcastic word for Trump’s running mate Vance: “Like all the normal people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at (the elite university) Yale, had his career financed by Silicon Valley billionaires and then wrote a best-seller in which he slammed the people of his homeland,” Walz mocked.
Trump speaks of “left-wing radical duo”
Before the appearance, Trump himself had lashed out at Harris and Walz. “This is the most radical left-wing duo in American history,” the 78-year-old wrote on his online platform Truth Social. “There has never been anything like this before and there never will be again.” He also called Harris “crazy.”
Trump’s running mate Vance has had a rocky start in recent weeks. With regard to Walz, the senator from the state of Ohio chose similar words to Trump. The appointment underscores “how radical Kamala Harris is,” Vance told journalists, accusing the Democrat, among other things, of having “listened to the Hamas wing of her own party.”
Obama considers Walz to be “ideal partner”
Walz is particularly supported by the left wing of the Democrats. This wing stands for a more critical stance towards Israel than the center of the party and has recently repeatedly questioned the Biden administration’s Middle East policy. Walz himself has so far been rather reserved in his comments on the situation in the Middle East.
He also received support from the center of the party, including from former US President Barack Obama. He said his party colleague Harris had chosen an “ideal partner.” Walz had “the values and integrity to make us proud.” US President Biden also expressed his support: The duo would “ensure that America continues to lead the world and fulfill its role as an indispensable nation.”
After their tour through the particularly hotly contested “swing states,” Harris and Walz will attend the big Democratic Party convention in Chicago from August 19 to 22. Harris’ official nomination was supposed to take place there, but was brought forward and handled digitally for bureaucratic reasons.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
