The Minnesota governor, a onetime high school teacher and football coach, used his speech to put a small-town spin on the Democrats’ agenda.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz formally accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for vice president on Wednesday, closing the third day of the party’s national convention in Chicago.
In a speech that met a rousing reception in the arena, Walz described his upbringing in a small town in Nebraska, using his roots to draw a contrast with his Republican opponent, J. D. Vance.
“I grew up in Butte, Nebraska, a town of 400 people,” he said, taking a jab at Vance, who hails from a town in Ohio and claims to have roots in the Appalachian Mountains. “I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale.”
Before Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate, many Americans had never heard of Walz. However, his selection is seen as a strategic move to make inroads with Midwestern voters, whose support is crucial in the upcoming election.
Walz’s speech featured some of the sharp rhetoric that made him popular in the early weeks of his campaign.
“It’s an agenda nobody asked for,” he said of the notorious “Project 2025” that spells out a detailed plan for a second Trump term. “It’s an agenda that serves nobody except the richest and the most extreme among us. It’s an agenda that does nothing for our neighbours in need. Is it weird? Absolutely. But it’s also wrong. And it’s dangerous.”
Plain-spoken and energetic, he charmed supporters with his background as a public school teacher and football defence coach.
“It’s the fourth quarter, we’re down a field goal, but we’re on offence, and we’ve got the ball, we’re driving down the field. And boy, do we have the right team.”
A National Guard veteran and avid hunter, Walz also addressed the pressing issue of gun control.
“I believe in the Second Amendment, but I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe,” he said.
The third night of the DNC focused on the theme of “a fight for our freedoms,” with a particular emphasis on protecting abortion rights.
“In Minnesota, we respect our neighbours and the personal choices they make. Even if we wouldn’t make those same choices for ourselves, we’ve got a golden rule, mind your own damn business,” he said.
Walz argued that while the Democrats want to defend freedoms, Republicans want to take them away.
“If these guys get back in the White House, they’ll start jacking up the costs on the middle class. They’ll repeal the Affordable Care Act. They’ll gut Social Security and Medicare, and they will ban abortion across this country, with or without Congress,” he added.
