Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz took the stage together for the first time on Tuesday as official running mates on the Democratic presidential ticket, with the 2024 election just 90 days away.
The pair arrived before the more than 12,000-strong crowd at Temple University in Philadelphia to roars of applause.
Onstage, the vice president praised Walz’s Midwest roots as a teacher, veteran, congressman, and governor responsible for policies like free school lunch for kids and protections to codify abortion rights.
“I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said.
Walz, for his part, gave a fiery speech of his own, balancing calls to bring “joy” back to politics with cutting attacks on the GOP campaign, mocking Donald Trump and JD Vance as out-of-touch leaders who were “weird as hell” and lying about their connections to Project 2025. He also made a joke about...that...NSFW rumor about Vance and a couch.
Walz beat out a crowded field of rivals to be the Democratic pick for VP, including Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, who appeared at Tuesday’s rally.
Key Points
- Kamala Harris picks Tim Walz as her vice president ahead of Philadelphia rally
- Walz says it is ’honor of a lifetime’ to join Kamala Harris for 2024 campaign
- Tim Walz lands a zinger on Vance about that couch story - and attacks him for using Hillbilly Elegy to trash his own community
- Trump leads Republican meltdown as Tim Walz unveiled as Harris’ VP pick
- New poll says most Americans haven’t heard of Tim Walz
- Harris praises Walz as ‘patriot’ and ‘fighter for the middle class'
Tuesday 6 August 2024 21:48
Oliver O'Connell
Hello Philly! pic.twitter.com/K30XAbOoBl
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 6, 2024
Watch LIVE: Kamala Harris rallies with new VP running mate Tim Walz in Philadelphia
Tuesday 6 August 2024 21:50
Oliver O'Connell
How do Walz and Vance stack up in the polls?
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:00
Oliver O'Connell
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has been chosen to run alongside Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, and while current polling shows that most Americans aren’t familiar with him past polling shows he is popular with voters.
Unlike Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, Walz has decades of political experience, having first been elected to represent Minnesota’s 1st district in the House of Representatives in 2006 with 52 percent of the vote.
Despite his experience, an ABC News and Ipsos survey from July found that out of 1,200 Americans, most did not know who Walz was.
Ariana Baio looks at the numbers.
Harris and Emhoff set to arrive any minute
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:13
Josh Marcus
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff are expected to arrive in Philly any moment.
Earlier today, they shared this photo of their journey to this high-profile rally.
On the ground at Harris campaign in Philadelphia
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:15
Oliver O'Connell
Andrew Feinberg reports from Philadelphia:
The crowd at the Temple University-owned arena appeared quite racially diverse and varied in age, a notable difference from the older, whiter crowds that frequent rallies for Harris’s opponent.
The Independent spotted a pair of grey-haired caucasian males sporting shirts declaring themselves to be “Old White Men for Harris and Freedom.”
One of them, Bernie Strain, said he and his friend Joe Mathis were in attendance “to support the Democratic ticket, supporting the party, and supporting our next president, Kamala Harris.”
Asked about the significance of their shirts, Strain replied: “It’s as clear as the t shirt says. It’s about two old white men liking our Social Security, liking our Medicare, liking our freedom, liking our democracy — we’ll lose it if Trump gets elected.”
He also told The Independent that his son, a US Marine, had served a pair of tours at the base that was struck by Iran-backed militants in Iraq yesterday.
“He’s no loser and he’s no sucker for serving in the United States’s service, and Trump’s not going to call my son a loser or a sucker. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” he said.
Strain added that he “feels” Biden, citing the death of the president’s eldest son, Beau Biden, following a tour of duty in Iraq.
“Joe’s my guy, but we got to win this. He did the best thing he could do. He saved us for four years, and it’s time for a new torch to be passed to a new generation,” he said.
The debut outing for the 2024 Democratic ticket even attracted a pair of ex-Republican members of Congress.
One of them, James Greenwood, represented Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District from 1993 to 2005.
He told The Independent that he understood Biden had to stand down after his debate performance against Trump.
“You’re never going to unsee it, that’s always going to be in the commercials. It’s always going to be on the internet,” he said.
Greenwood, who is involved in the Republicans for Harris coalition affiliated with the Harris-Walz campaign, said it was hard to recruit anyone to the pro-Harris GOP effort after the debate, but he described the vibe after Biden stood down as “like an electric charge.”
“You’ve seen it. You know, the excitement, the volunteers, the fundraising, so everyone’s pretty excited,” he said.
Greenwood also told The Independent he’d been “all in” for Harris to select Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, but he also had kind words for the Minnesota governor.
“From what I’ve seen of Governor Walz is that he’s a very down to earth guy, very likable guy, and I think they’ll make a great team,” he said.
Another former Republican Congressman, Tea Party firebrand turned outspoken Never Trump commentator Joe Walsh, said Walz is just what Democrats need to appeal to working-class voters and shake off the party’s image as a collection of effete elites.
“He’s like an everyman — the Democrats have had trouble with blue collar regular workers and that’s right up Walz’s alley,” he said. “This guy can go into any pool hall, any VFW, and he’s down more than Shapiro is. I disagree with him on a lot of policy, but he’s like a regular guy, and that’s what Democrats have to have.”
WATCH: Harris campaign releases video introducing Walz as running mate
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:22
Josh Marcus
How’s the Harris campaign going to introduce Tim Walz to the nation?
Today, we got our first peek.
Here’s a mini bio the campaign released talking about the Minnesota governor’s long career in public service.
Growing up, I learned to be generous toward my neighbors, compromise without compromising my values, and to work for the common good.@KamalaHarris and I both believe in that common good – in that fundamental promise of America. We’re ready to fight for it. And like she says:… pic.twitter.com/5SfrDRqx7C
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 6, 2024
Shapiro praises ‘battle-tested' Harris at Philadelphia rally
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:32
Josh Marcus
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro is speaking at today’s rally, and he walked out to a huge roar of applause.
“I want you to know I am going to continue to pour my heart and soul into serving you every single day and I’m going to be working my tail off to make sure we make Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the next leaders of the United States of America,” the Democrat told the crowd.
He praised Harris as “courtroom tough” and “battle-tested and ready to go.”
The Trump years, meanwhile, were marked with “more chaos” and “less freedom,” as well as declining abortion rights, Shapiro said.
Mention of JD Vance prompts chants of ‘He’s a weirdo'
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:37
Josh Marcus
At the mere mention of JD Vance just now, the crowd just erupted into chants of, “He’s a weirdo.”
That’s more than likely because of Tim Walz, who memorably branded the Trump-Vance campaign “weirdos” in a series of widely seen TV appearances and speeches.
Learn more about the roots of this campaign dig.
Shapiro offers ringing endorsement of Harris-Walz campaign
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:46
Josh Marcus
Josh Shapiro may’ve just been passed over for being Kamala Harris’s running mate, but he certainly doesn’t sound like it.
The Pennsylvania governor is in the middle of a pumped-up speech touting the campaign as one defending “real freedom.” He also called Tim Walz a “great patriot” and personal friend.
Shapiro argued on Tuesday that the Democrats are the right choice for their positions on reproductive freedom, investments in public education, environmentalism, LBGTQ+ issues and other topics.
“This election is about all of you, and whether or not you’re willing to do this hard work to fight for our freedom,” he said.
Teacher, coach and family man: Tim Walz is the Midwest dad courting the White House
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:47
Josh Marcus
The governorship of Minnesota may have launched Tim Waltz onto the national stage – and now into a battle for the White House – but it was the former teacher’s wife who brought him to the Land of 10,000 Lakes in the first place.
Gwen Walz, nee Whipple, was born and raised in Minnesota before making a fateful foray after college into teaching across the border in Nebraska; there, she met another young educator and member of the Army National Guard. Tim Walz had grown up in West Point, a small Cornhusker enclave nearly 300 miles south of his future wife’s hometown, and already counted several years of military service under his belt when he decided to ask Gwen out.
Thanks to encouragement from her sister, she agreed; their first date at the only movie theater in town – followed by a stop at Hardee’s, naturally – soon blossomed into a romance, then a 1994 marriage. Exactly 30 years later, the two teachers and their two children now proudly hold the title of First Family of Minnesota — while throwing their hats in the ring for Second Family of America.
Sheila Flynn has more on the Midwest roots of Walz.
Photos capture first Harris-Walz rally
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:48
Josh Marcus
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz were in Philadelphia on Tuesday for their first campaign rally together.
Here’s what the scene looked like on the ground.
Harris VP pick Tim Walz under microscope for response to 2020 George Floyd protests in Minneapolis
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:58
Josh Marcus
The announcement of Tim Walz as Kamala Harris’s running mate has shaken up the 2024 presidential race once again, and it’s also turning the clock back to 2020 when the country was riven by protests following the police murder of George Floyd.
Walz was governor when police in his state pinned Floyd to the ground by his neck for more than nine minutes, sparking massive, sometimes violent, protests and looting across the Minneapolis area and the country.
Republicans, predictably, have already seized on this moment in Walz’s history, painting him as another soft-on-crime liberal who lost control of their city.
“They make an interesting tag team, because of course, Tim Walz allowed rioters to burn down Minneapolis in the summer of 2020,” JD Vance, Walz’s rival on the GOP ticket, told Fox News on Tuesday.
So, how did Tim Walz respond to Floyd’s death?
The VP has landed
Tuesday 6 August 2024 22:59
Josh Marcus
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have taken the stage.
Follow live for the latest news on this pivotal moment in the campaign.
Harris thanks Shapiro and claims him as key ally in campaign for Pennsylvania
Tuesday 6 August 2024 23:04
Josh Marcus
Kamala Harris just gave a special shoutout to Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro.
“I will say Josh is a dear, dear friend and an extraordinary leader,” she said. “He and I have been spending a lot of time together over the years. And I told Josh, look, I am so so invested in our friendship, in doing this together, because together with Josh Shapiro, we will win Pennsylvania.”
Harris praises Walz as ‘patriot’ and ‘fighter for the middle class'
Tuesday 6 August 2024 23:12
Josh Marcus
After talking about her campaign priorities—defending reproductive rights, ensuring middle class prosperity—Harris is now laying out Walz’s qualifications to be vice president.
“I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris told the audience in Philadelphia. “A leader who will help unite our nation and move us forward. A fighter for the middle class. A patriot, who believes as I do, in the extraordinary promise of America.”
Big cheers for Walz record on ACA and free school lunch
Tuesday 6 August 2024 23:22
Josh Marcus
Some of the biggest cheers of the night so far have come when Kamala Harris described Tim Walz’s record on social service programs, which included supporting the Affordable Care Act and making school breakfast and lunch free for Minnesota kids.
“We believe healthcare should be a right and not just a privilege for those who can afford it,” Harris said.
How Tim Walz’s 1995 DUI arrest changed his life
Tuesday 6 August 2024 23:32
Josh Marcus
Tim Walz chose to stop drinking alcohol in 1995 after he was arrested for driving under the influence, a story that has resurfaced after Vice President Kamala Harris announced the Minnesota Governor as her running mate.
On September 23, 1995, Walz, a 31-year-old, newlywed, high school teacher and football coach, was pulled over doing 96 miles per hour in a 55mph zone. The officer who stopped Walz smelled a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage”, according to the police report.
After failing a field sobriety test and preliminary breath test, Walz was taken to a local jail in Dawes County, Nebraska.
The incident took place 11 years before Walz first pursued political office as Minnesota’s First Congressional District Representative.
Ariana Baio has the details.
‘Thank you for bringing back the joy'
Tuesday 6 August 2024 23:42
Josh Marcus
Tim Walz is making that case that he and Kamala Harris will be happy warriors on behalf of the middle class and common decency.
“Thank you for bringing back the joy,” Walz began, praising Harris for her uplifting style.
The Minnesota governor also connected his small town upbringing working on a family farm to the values he said he’ll bring to the White House.
“My mom and dad taught us, show generosity toward your neighbors, and work for the common good,” he said.
Walz said this approach couldn’t be more different than Trump’s.
“He froze in the face of the covid crisis,” Walz said. “He drove our economy into the ground. And make no mistake, violent crime was up under Donald Trump — that’s not even counting the crimes he committed.”
Walz gets personal talking about reproductive care
Tuesday 6 August 2024 23:48
Josh Marcus
Tim Walz is arguing that the Republican position on abortion rights and other forms of reproductive care go against Minnesota’s golden rule: “Mind your own damn business.”
The Minnesota governor said there was a time when Republicans believed in freedom, but that has turned out to mean the “freedom to invade your doctor’s office.”
The Democratic leader also spoke personally about his family’s efforts to conceive a child through IVF, and the long stretches where it seemed the procedure wouldn’t take.
Eventually, when their daughter was born, they named her Hope.
Walz savages JD Vance as out of touch and ‘weird as hell'
Wednesday 7 August 2024 00:00
Josh Marcus
It’s not hard to imagine why Tim Walz once won a state football championship when he was a high school coach.
The Minnesota governor practically gave a halftime pump-up speech today in Philadelphia, and he reserved his most passionate section for his rivals on the (political) field, savaging Ohio senator and Trump running mate JD Vance as an out-of-touch elite, despite their shared Midwest roots.
“Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a best seller trashing that community,” Walz said, to hoots from the crowd.
“Come on, that’s not what Middle America is,” he continued. “And I got to tell you. I can’t wait to debate the guy ... That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
The Democrat also accused Vance and Trump of being “weird as hell.”
Read more here to learn about why Vance is increasingly coming under fire from even those within his party.
Walz accuses Trump campaign of lying about Project 2025
Wednesday 7 August 2024 00:15
Josh Marcus
Tim Walz is the latest to accuse the Trump campaign of falsely downplaying its links to Project 2025, a model administration document from a conservative thinktank that’s been criticized for its suite of far-right policies.
Trump has claimed he isn’t associated with the proposal, despite JD Vance writing a foreword for a book by the project’s creator.
“Don’t believe him when he plays dumb,” Walz said in Philadelphia. “He knows exactly what Project 2025 will do to restrict our freedoms, to rig the economy to help the super rich. If Trump gets a chance to return, he’s going to pick up exactly where he left off four years ago, only this time it’ll be much, much worse.”
VIDEO: Walz claims GOP is breaking the Minnesota ‘golden rule’ on abortion
Wednesday 7 August 2024 00:30
Josh Marcus
Tim Walz is hoping to connect his Midwest values to the 2024 campaign.
On the subject of abortion, Walz said the GOP opposition to abortion goes against Minnesota’s “golden rule,” of “mind your own damn business.”
Walz: In Minnesota we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves, there's a golden rule, mind your own damn business. pic.twitter.com/TRQNlbySlE
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 6, 2024
Best pics from Harris-Walz rally
Wednesday 7 August 2024 00:33
Graeme Massie
Tim Walz lands a zinger on Vance about that couch story - and attacks him for using Hillbilly Elegy to trash his own community
Wednesday 7 August 2024 00:37
Graeme Massie
Best pics of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at Philadelphia rally
Wednesday 7 August 2024 00:41
Graeme Massie
WATCH: Tim Walz’s best reactions to Kamala Harris’s speech
Wednesday 7 August 2024 00:52
Graeme Massie
Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz show off new campaign sign
Wednesday 7 August 2024 00:55
Graeme Massie
I predicted a Harris-Walz ticket a year ago. Here’s why
01:00
Josh Marcus
The wait is over. Vice President Kamala Harris has finally picked her running mate in Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Walz has become a favorite of online progressives recently, largely because of his “weird” attacks on Republicans. But there are also solid policy reasons why Walz is beloved of the left wing of the party. He went from a pro-gun rural Democrat in Congress to a governor who has signed legislation that protects abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights, enacted background checks on guns, and expanded free school meals regardless of income.
Back in August 2023, I tweeted: “Walz would be a strong choice for Harris if she were to be the nominee”.
Almost a year later, after Biden’s debacle of a debate performance, just as Walz and other Democratic governors did a stakeout in front of the White House, I suggested him as a potential running mate for Harris if Biden dropped out. “Veteran, longtime congressman from rural Minnesota. Popular governor who has passed major pieces of progressive legislation,” is how I summarized my reasons why.
More from Eric Garcia.
ICYMI: Democrats react to Tim Walz as VP pick: ‘I don’t know’
01:15
Josh Marcus
Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota governor Tim Walz to be her running mate for the 2024 General Election.
It’s the choice the current vice president mulled over for weeks, before landing on Walz, who beat Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro and Arizona’s Mark Kelly to be Harris’s top pick.
The pair are due to step out for their first joint rally this evening in Philadelphia in front of thousands of fellow Democrats.
The Independent spoke to a few of them and asked them what they thought of Harris’s choice.
Trump campaign suspends North Carolina events amid Tropical Storm Debby
01:16
Josh Marcus
The Trump campaign has had to postpone two scheduled events for August 8 in North Carolina, as Tropical Storm Debby bears down on the state.
The Trump-Vance ticket had been scheduled to appear at events in Raleigh and Oakboro on Thursday.
Here’s more on the widespread damage from the storm.
Harris campaign denies ‘ridiculous’ claim it rejected Shapiro as VP pick over faith
01:31
Josh Marcus
Kamala Harris’ campaign has rejected the suggestion that Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro was overlooked as her running mate because of his Jewish faith.
Representatives said that the claims were “ridiculous and offensive” and that the vice president would “always combat antisemitism whenever and wherever she sees it.”
Harris announced that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz would be joining the Democratic ticket on Tuesday. Shapiro, who is Jewish, was among several others tipped to be in the running.
Some critics suggested that Shapiro had been sidelined because of his faith. Former Harvard law professor and controversial lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, wrote on X:”Did Harris reject Shapiro because progressives don’t like that he’s Jewish?”
Mike Bedigan has the details.
The biggest moments from tonight’s Harris-Walz kickoff rally
01:40
Josh Marcus
Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz made their debut as the presumptive Democratic presidential ticket, kicking off a campaign against Donald Trump and JD Vance in front of a roaring crowd in Philadelphia.
The North Star State executive strode on stage in front of an electricfied crowd at Temple University’s Licouras Center on Tuesday just hours after Harris announced him as her running mate, ending the closely watched contest for the next potential vice president by choosing the seasoned midwestern politician, military veteran and former school teacher with a progressive track record.
Harris told the estimated 12,000 people in attendance that she’d “set out to find a partner who can build this brighter future” that she has spoke of from the stump during her weeks-old campaign for the presidency.
She added that her search for a running-mate led her to look for a “leader who can unite this nation and move us forward,” someone who was “a fighter for the middle class” and a patriot who believes as I do the extraordinary promise of America, a promise of freedom, opportunity and justice not just for some but for all.”
Andrew Feinberg and Alex Woodward have the latest.
Photos: Tim Walz’s unlikely rise to be the Democratic VP nominee
01:47
Josh Marcus
The other VP race: who will play Tim Walz on SNL?
01:55
Josh Marcus
Now that both campaigns in the 2024 presidential election have settled on their candidates, for now at least, the next question is: who will play them on Saturday Night Live?
Many on X have suggested that SNL vets Maya Rudolph and Steve Martin should handle the Democratic side.
Make SNL Great Again pic.twitter.com/WKzZQPYbjL
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) August 7, 2024
Pakistani national with ties to Iran indicted for alleged murder-for-hire plot to kill Trump
02:00
Oliver O'Connell
The Department of Justice has accused a Pakistani national with ties to the Iranian government with seeking to carry out a murder-for-hire plot targeting US government officials.
Asif Raza Merchant, who is now in federal custody, allegedly traveled to the US to hire hit men to carry out assassinations in August or September, according to an indictment unsealed in New York on Tuesday.
Alex Woodward has the details.
Opening of Trump campaign office in Georgia descends into chaos
02:45
Oliver O'Connell
The incident took place last week when State Representative John LaHood said he was approached by activist Sam Carnline after speaking at the event, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Is Trump having a ‘public nervous breakdown’? Republicans worry he might be...
03:45
Oliver O'Connell
Republicans are concerned that their party leader Donald Trump is having a “public nervous breakdown” after he made a series of offensive outbursts about Vice President Kamala Harris as he slips behind her in the polls.
Perhaps collapsing under the weight of Harris’ growing campaign support, the former president has made a number of insulting personal attacks against his Democratic rival. Last week,
