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Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz attacked Donald Trump as bizarre and extreme and called on Americans to abandon the Republican candidate and support Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate.
In a keynote speech on the third evening of the Democratic Party Convention, Walz also portrayed Harris as a defender of freedom and patriotism. In doing so, the party attempted to sharpen the contrast with Trump and portray the former president as unsuitable for the office and out of touch with mainstream American values.
“Leaders don’t spend all day insulting people and blaming others. Leaders get the job done,” the Minnesota governor said in a heated speech on Wednesday. “So, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to break up with these guys.”
Since Harris launched her campaign last month after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race for the White House, Democrats have increasingly described Trump as aging, weak and selfish, and warned him against being a strongman who threatens U.S. democracy.
They have also focused their message on protecting personal freedoms related to abortion rights, gun safety and voting rights.
“When we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people you love, the freedom to make your own health care decisions,” Walz said. “The freedom of your children to go to school without fear of being shot in the hallway.”
Walz, who emerged from relative political obscurity to become Harris’ running mate, has become one of the harshest critics of Trump and his running mate JD Vance, calling them and their platform “weird.”
On Wednesday, Walz added a twist by calling Project 2025, the sweeping conservative policy program that Trump has tried to distance himself from, “an agenda that no one asked for.”
“Is that weird? Absolutely. But it’s also wrong and dangerous,” Walz said.
Pete Buttigieg, US transportation secretary and former presidential candidate who has also been discussed as a possible vice presidential candidate for Harris, said Trump and Vance were “amping up their negativity and resentment”.
“I just don’t think America is looking for more darkness,” Buttigieg said.
Walz delivered the keynote speech in Chicago shortly after a surprise appearance by celebrity talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who passionately urged voters to support Harris and stand up to the “bullies of life.”
The Democrats’ efforts to portray themselves as the more patriotic party – which prompted loud chants of “USA” from the audience – were supported by Republicans who sought to distance themselves from Trump.
“I want to make it clear to my Republican friends at home who are watching: If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you are not a Democrat,” said Geoff Duncan, the former lieutenant governor of Georgia. “You are a patriot.”
Former President Bill Clinton had already taken swipes at Trump earlier that evening.
“Next time you hear him, don’t count the lies, count the I’s,” Clinton said. “His vendettas, his vengeance, his grievances, his conspiracies, he says… ‘I, I, I, I.’ When Kamala Harris is president, every day will start with you, you, you, you.”
Walz, a 60-year-old former teacher, American football coach and Army National Guard veteran who served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, is seen as an asset to Harris in her quest to win over working-class voters in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Other possible candidates considered in the campaign included Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.
Trump’s campaign has tried to portray Walz as a dangerous liberal who misrepresented his more than 20 years of service in the National Guard. Republican hardliners have also raised questions about Walz’s ties to China.
Polls suggest that while Walz is popular with many voters, he is largely unknown. A new poll from Democratic polling firm Blueprint on Wednesday found that 44 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of Walz, but 22 percent said they had never heard of him or had no opinion of him.
