PHILADELPHIA — A crowd of thousands went absolutely nuts over Vice President Kamala Harris’ new running mate, the previously little-known Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who energized an audience at a Temple University arena into almost ear-splitting decibels of excitement on Tuesday.
“He drove the economy into the ground, and make no mistake, violent crime was up under Donald Trump — and that’s not even counting the crimes that he committed,” said Walz, the crowd erupting in yelling, cheering and foot-stomping for several seconds.
It was remarkable considering this was the first time that many here had heard directly from the governor — who was chosen, in part, because he’s a well-rounded, plainspoken “white dude” from the Midwest.
But Walz, 60, made it immediately clear that Democrats should not expect his tone on the campaign to be all Midwestern nice, and that Harris likely also chose him because he’s good at getting nasty about Trump.
“Don’t believe him when he plays dumb. He knows exactly what Project 2025 would be,” Walz said, citing the authoritarian blueprint for a second Trump term spearheaded by Trump’s allies at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, as well as calls from some in the GOP for a deeply unpopular national abortion ban. But Walz said Trump cannot be trusted.
“Even if you wouldn’t make the same choice yourself, there’s a golden rule — mind your own damn business!” he said, again to thunderous applause.
Walz is known for originating the “weird” dig Democrats have begun using against Republicans. On Tuesday, he again suggested that Republicans are the party of no-boundaries weirdos with a reference to JD Vance and a couch, a nod to a bogus story about Vance describing having sexual relations with a couch in his memoir that nonetheless took on a life of its own online.
Walz made a sarcastic nod to the fact that he and Vance both hail from the Midwest. Walz is from Minnesota and was born in Nebraska. Vance famously grew up in Ohio and wrote about it in his best-selling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which gave him cred as someone who understood the motivations of poor white Americans who voted for Trump in 2016.
“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,” he said. “C’mon, that’s not what middle America is. And I tell you, I can’t wait to debate the guy. That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch.” Walz seemed delighted at his own joke while Harris grimaced and tried to stifle a laugh in the background.
During remarks from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was reportedly the runner up for the job of Harris’ No. 2, the crowd erupted in a chant of, “He’s a weirdo!” about Vance for almost 20 seconds.
“If I hear you right — and I think I do — you’re chanting, ‘He’s a weirdo.’ If you’re chanting, ‘He’s a weirdo,’ then you’ve heard of my good friend and our next vice president Tim Walz. Tim Walz, in his own plainspoken, Midwestern way, summed up JD Vance best — he’s a weirdo!” said Shapiro, who reportedly only learned this morning he wasn’t getting the job.
Trump’s campaign blasted out a memo after the news broke about Walz titled “Tim Walz is an incompetent liberal,” claiming Walz and Harris are both “far-left radicals who don’t know how to govern.”
“…In his own plainspoken, Midwestern way, summed up JD Vance best — he’s a weirdo!”
– Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Harris running mate Tim Walz
For the first time in what felt like a long time, Democrats, newly energized by Harris at the top of the ticket and having the jovial silver-haired Walz in tow, were having fun and focusing less on doom and gloom — even as they effectively campaigned under the weight of a swing state they can’t really afford to lose. Biden carried Pennsylvania by fewer than 81,000 votes in 2020.
Recent polling confirms the vibes are grounded in reality: FiveThirtyEight’s polling average has Harris leading Trump in its national head-to-head average — better than Biden was doing in late June, before the bad debate that forced him to drop his reelection bid.
The crowd was singing and dancing throughout the event, pumped up by a DJ that played a steady stream of Megan Thee Stallion, as well as Ludacris’ “Move B***h” (the bleeped version) and DMX’s “Party Up (Up In Here).”
“You can feel the energy in this room. It is tangible; it is palpable,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said before a marching band sent the room over the moon.
Young voters at the rally were having a blast. A young-looking man with a sign reading, “Kamala Is Future” and a drawing of what looked like two coconuts shared his elation with the crowd by repeatedly blowing a whistle. A few said they would not have been as excited to vote for Biden.
“I would not have, but I am glad that he was able to take the time to step down, realize where he was, and make sure that he listens to his advisors,” said 27-year-old Archana Chungapally, who is looking forward to voting for Harris because they share the same cultural identity.
“People our age are shockingly into politics right now,” said Bailey Pincus, a 21-year-old student at Temple. “I think everyone is excited to have a woman.”
Harris preceded Walz on stage, introducing him as a veteran, social studies teacher, congressman and two-term governor known for progressive reforms like signing into law protections for reproductive health care, trans health care and gun safety — even though he’s a gun owner and hunter.
“He really does shine a light on a brighter future we can build together. In his state he’s been a model chief executive, and with his experience, Tim Walz will be ready on Day 1,” said Harris.
Walz hyped up Harris as a former prosecutor and California attorney general, an aspect of her biography that was out of step with the Democratic Party when she ran for president in 2020. Now Democrats are leaning into framing Harris as “courtroom tough,” which is how Shapiro, a fellow former state AG, described her, and how Walz also portrayed her.
“She took on the predators, she took on the fraudsters, she took down the transnational gangs, she stood up against powerful corporate interests, and she never hesitated to reach across the aisle to improve people’s lives,” said Walz, “and she does it all with a sense of joy.”
Walz also urged Democrats to settle their political differences not with “violence but votes,” but acknowledged the short on-ramp to the election, which Harris and Walz are embracing by barnstorming swing states over the next few days. “We’ll sleep when we’re dead,” Walz said.