Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' running mate in the 2024 White House race against Republican Donald Trump, will take the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night in his first high-profile national address.
Harris, 59, chose the nationally little-known Walz, 60, as her vice presidential running mate just 15 days ago. Harris herself entered the race just a month ago, after President Joe Biden dropped out of the Nov. 5 election campaign.
Walz’s jovial demeanor belies a sharp tongue that he was quick to use against Trump and his running mate, JD Vance. Democrats, eager to unite around a candidate they view as more viable than the 81-year-old Biden, have donated a record $500 million to the fledgling campaign led by Harris, Biden’s vice president.
Biden's support for Israel's assault on Hamas-ruled Gaza, one of the most divisive issues in the party, has not been a prominent theme at the convention. Health officials say the offensive has killed more than 40,000 people.
The parents of Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, received a standing ovation and chants of “Bring Them Home” as they took the stage. Goldberg-Polin, 23, was among more than 200 hostages taken by Palestinian Hamas militants in their Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“The return of the hostages home is not a political issue, but a humanitarian one,” Polin said.
American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder was expected to perform, and a source said longtime Democratic donor Oprah Winfrey would also make an appearance.
Walz, who has been praised by Democrats for his support of Harris and other women, will talk about growing up on a farm in Nebraska, his family and the freedoms that Democrats say are under attack by Trump, who is making his third major-party bid for the White House.
The convention will show a video featuring former students of Walz's time as a high school teacher and football coach.
Singers John Legend and Sheila E. will perform a tribute to late music star Prince, who was born in Walz's home state of Minnesota and died in 2016, campaign officials said.
Walz will take the stage on the third night of the party's gathering in Chicago after former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was instrumental in pushing Biden to drop his re-election bid after a poor debate performance against Trump.
Harris, 59, will address the gathering on its final night on Thursday.
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy hopes to reach a deal with Trump under which he would drop out of the race in exchange for a post in a new Trump administration, a political action committee that supports Kennedy told Reuters. Kennedy's endorsement could help Trump in an election that opinion polls show is likely to be close. Trump met with Kennedy last month to discuss a possible endorsement.
Polls showed Biden trailing Trump before the Democratic president ceded the top spot to Harris; surveys now show her leading her Republican rival in several of the states that will decide the election.
“Happy Warriors”
Walz's keynote speech follows enthusiastic appearances by powerful Democratic figures, including former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle and Hillary Clinton, a former presidential candidate, U.S. senator and secretary of state.
Walz has brought a folksy charm to the campaign, describing himself and Harris as “joyful warriors” focused on a brighter future and accusing Republicans of stoking fear and division.
Another video will highlight Walz's service in the Army National Guard, despite Republican accusations that he exaggerated his rank in the Guard, where he served for 24 years.
Harris campaign officials are counting on Walz’s Midwestern roots and down-to-earth style to appeal to some of the white men in rural areas who voted for Trump by large margins in the past two elections, and to help win battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Walz will be introduced by Ben Ingman, an alumnus, and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a fellow Minnesotan who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020.
At a campaign stop in Asheboro, North Carolina, Trump said Democrats are going to “cheat like hell to win the election,” building on past comments suggesting he might try to challenge the result if he loses, as he did in 2020.
At an event focused on national security, Trump said he would fire all senior military commanders who had been involved in the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
“This housecleaning will be a signal to the whole world, to the American military and to everyone else,” he said. Many high-ranking officers who took part in that operation have already retired.
