PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Kamala Harris introduced her running mate to the nation at a raucous rally in Pennsylvania’s biggest city Tuesday, playing up Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s background as a teacher, football coach, national guardsman and “one of the best marksmen” on Capitol Hill.
Thousands of supporters roared as Harris and Walz alternated between playing up his bio and taking shots at former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.
“We are the underdogs in this race,” Harris said. “But we have the momentum, and I know exactly what we are up against.”
Tuesday was the culmination of Harris’ two-week sprint to settle on a running mate after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Walz was among a handful of finalists who also included Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said. “A leader who will help unite our nation and help move us forward. A fighter for the middle class.”
Harris touted Walz’s years as a high school social studies teacher and football coach who, she said, “was the kind of teacher and mentor that every child in America dreams of having and that every kid deserves.”
She went through some of the finer points of Walz’s biography that stood out to her, including that he was the highest-ranking enlisted man to ever serve in Congress and that, as a football coach, he signed up to be faculty adviser for a Gay Straight Alliance chapter at his school “at a time when acceptance was difficult to find for LGBTQ students.”
Harris and her campaign have a lot of room to help define Walz. An NPR/PBS/Marist survey conducted within the past week found 71% of Americans either had never heard of him or were unsure about their opinions of him. Of those who had views about Walz, 17% said they saw him favorably, while 12% said they viewed him unfavorably.
Harris pointed to elements of Walz’s resume that may appeal to moderate voters, including his military service and his work across the aisle as a House member and that he’s a gun owner. She shouted out that Walz “was known as one of Capitol Hill’s best marksmen, winning a bipartisan sharpshooting contest year after year.”
“I’m telling you, Tim Walz will be ready on Day One,” she said. “In fact, when you compare his résumé to Trump’s running mate, well, some might say it’s like a matchup between the varsity team and the JV squad.”
When he was up to speak, Walz praised Harris, saying she brings “a sense of joy” to governance and the campaign trail. He touted his bipartisan congressional record, saying he “learned to compromise without compromising my values.”
Then he took aim at their opponents.
Walz said Trump “doesn’t know the first thing about service” and “froze in the face of the Covid crisis.” Violent crime, he said, was up under Trump, and “that’s not even counting the crimes he committed.”
At that point, the crowd began chanting, “Lock him up.”
Walz then railed against the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint and transition plan for a coming Trump administration that is unaffiliated with the campaign. (Trump and his campaign have repeatedly disavowed and condemned the effort, which was written by a number of Trump allies and former administration officials.)
“Don’t believe him when he plays dumb,” Walz said. “He knows exactly what Project 2025 would do.
“He’s going to pick up exactly where he left off two years ago,” he added. “Only this time, he would be much, much worse.”
Immediately upon getting news of his selection, Trump and his allies moved to label Walz as a far-left liberal who oversaw the destruction of Minneapolis after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 and was selected only because of left-wing opposition to Shapiro over his record on Israel and condemnation of some pro-Palestinian protests.
“Hamas Harris bent the knee to antisemitic, anti-Israel radicals on the left by leapfrogging Shapiro,” a top Trump adviser said. “She chose someone as dangerously liberal as she is.”
Democrats, including Shapiro, the home state governor, sought at the event Tuesday to tamp down on the idea there was any ill will over Harris’ not selecting him as her running mate. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said: “Our Democratic nominee has spoken. That’s it. Period. End of story.”
Shapiro himself took the stage to raucous cheers and a lengthy ovation.
“I love you, Philly!” he said. “And you know what else I love? Being your governor.”
Shapiro said he will “be working my tail off to make sure we make Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the next leaders of the United States of America.”
Republicans spent Tuesday arguing that Shapiro was not selected because of his Jewish faith amid backlash from pro-Palestinian activists online. At a campaign event, Vance said “the guy actually had to run away from his Jewish heritage because of what the Democrats are saying about him.”
Shapiro got another round of cheers when he appeared to respond, saying, “I am proud of my faith.”
Shapiro, Walz and Harris were all complimentary of one another. Shapiro called Walz “an outstanding governor” and a “great patriot” who is “a dear friend.” Harris called Shapiro an “incredible governor,” adding that she is “so invested in our friendship.” Walz described Shapiro as “a treasure” and “a visionary leader,” as well as “no one you’d rather go to a [Bruce] Springsteen concert in Jersey with.” (The two of them have attended such a concert.)
Democrats here suggested no rift over Shapiro’s not getting the nod, though many Pennsylvania Democrats lobbied heavily for him.
“My phone has been lighting up all day. Pennsylvania’s people — my neighbors — and our elected leaders are thrilled to get behind the Harris-Walz ticket,” state Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El said. “There’s 10,000 people in the room right now, Gov. Josh Shapiro included, ready to deliver this pro-family, pro-union ticket to the White House. As I’m sure you can hear, the response has been electric. We expect the same response on the doors this weekend, frankly.”
The Harris campaign said Tuesday evening it had raised more than $20 million since Walz was selected.
Voters here were excited about the selection, some saying they thought he was the best pick even with Shapiro under consideration.
“He brings the Midwest and also that he doesn’t have some of the baggage that Shapiro has,” said Kevin Beyer, a Pennsylvania voter at the rally. “I love Shapiro, but I think that he [Walz] brings a lot more to it. He’s a veteran; he’s done so many good things. He’s not that controversial.”
Lorraine Bell, 60, a teacher from Chester County, said that Walz was her first pick and that she liked that he is “a regular dude.”
“I love Josh Shapiro,” Bell said. “But we needed him in PA, so he needs to still be here. But Tim Walz, he’s good.”
Earlier in the day, Vance campaigned in Philadelphia. Seeking to flip the “weird” line of attack that Walz helped establish, Vance said, “It is normal people who suffer when Kamala Harris refuses to do her job, and it is normal people who stand the most when we re-elect Donald Trump.”
Vance also sought to frame Walz as a far-left radical and his selection as evidence that Harris “will bend the knee to the most radical elements of her party.”
“That’s exactly what she did here,” he said. “That’s what she’s going to keep on doing as president.”
Speaker after speaker at the Harris rally trained their fire on Vance, often to loud applause.
“I work with JD Vance,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said. “And I am here to confirm he is a seriously weird dude.”
Walz said Vance’s Yale-educated, Silicon Valley background would not connect with Midwestern voters.
“I can’t wait to debate the guy,” Walz said before he alluded to a vulgar false claim made about Vance online. “That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
