Tim Waltz selected as Kamala Harris’ running mate for 2024 US election

In May, he also signed a bill expanding voting rights to tens of thousands of formerly incarcerated Minnesota residents.

Harris’ decision to pick Waltz surprised some Democrats and Republicans, who had widely expected Pennsylvania’s popular Gov. Josh Shapiro to be chosen as her running mate, especially given her need to win the state.

However, some progressives have hit back at Shapiro, a Jewish American, for his stance on the Gaza war, in which he, like most Democrats, supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. Earlier this year, Shapiro also condemned universities for pro-Palestinian protests that broke out across the country.

Joseph Geevarghese, head of the progressive grassroots group Our Revolution, welcomed Harris’ decision and said Waltz has a “strong pro-labor record and commitment to working-class issues.”

“The selection of Tim Waltz as the vice presidential nominee is a clear signal that the Harris campaign is listening to progressive voices across the country,” he said.

Yet at Temple University in Philadelphia, where Harris and Waltz held their first swing-state rally, some voters, like Larry Vladimir, expressed disappointment that Shapiro wasn’t picked. His wife, Gail, wearing a “Harris for President 2024” T-shirt, took a different view, telling the newspaper: “We’re going to elect our first female president. It doesn’t matter who she chooses as vice president. Everybody here hates Trump. He’s a horrible person, and hopefully he’ll go away quietly and everything will be fine.”

The rally was so lively that participants lined up for hours to get in. T-shirts with Harris’s smiling face and the words “Make America Smile Again” were sold for $25. A marching band played in the street and people danced.

Enthusiastic voters expressed their new excitement that Biden had given way to the vice president.

“To be honest, I had lost faith in this election, but Kamala has given me hope and confidence that we’re going to have a strong candidate who can really move us forward,” said Dionna McCoy of New Jersey.

“It’s very exciting — and I think that’s reflected in the representation of women here,” said Eileen Fields, of northern Pennsylvania, which she described as “Trump country.”

“She’s fresh, she’s energetic, she’s smart, and she’s been fighting the patriarchy her whole life.”

Meanwhile, Trump immediately released a fundraising email claiming that Waltz is “worse than the dangerous liberal and liar Kamala Harris.”

Waltz, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association, is popular in Democratic circles and known for his affable, no-nonsense style. That style has been on display on the air in recent days, as he has stepped up his attacks on JD Vance and the MAGA movement, calling Trump’s vice presidential pick “weird and creepy” — language that Harris’ campaign has since adopted.

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Harris’s election paves the way for a tight race among the four Republicans and Democrats currently vying for the nation’s leadership.

Before Biden dropped out of the race, Trump and his Republicans were extremely confident about their chances of winning the November election, bolstered by the former president’s near-death experience in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania last month.

However, polls show Harris and Trump neck and neck, and Trump himself appears to be struggling to adjust to this new reality. The former president stirred up a firestorm last week by: Attacking Harris’ racial identity.

He has since withdrawn from the debate with Biden scheduled for September 10 on ABC and instead debated with conservative media outlet Fox News on September 4.

“We have 91 days left,” Walz said as the crowd cheered. “Oh my god, this is so easy. We can go to sleep when we die.”

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