PHILADELPHIA — Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) sees one similarity with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the man he’s now tapped to face off against: “We’re White guys from the Midwest.’
But the two men — sons of America’s heartland, who both joined the military as teenagers — are far different on policy, Vance stressed in his first public remarks since Walz’s selection Tuesday as Vice President Harris’s running mate.
“I guess there’s similarities there, but what’s different is the actual ideas about how best to serve people, White, Black, or anything else in the Midwest and everywhere else,” Vance said.
Speaking about four miles from where Harris and Walz will make their first public appearance together, Vance said Walz was “one of the most far-left radicals in the entire United States government at any level,’ pointing to a new Minnesota law that lets any resident regardless of immigration status obtain a driver’s license. Vance also criticized Harris over her decision to not select Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, saying she was bending “the knee to the most radical elements of her party.’ Democrats have sought to re-engage progressives angered by the Biden administration’s aid to Israel amid the conflict in Gaza, and Shapiro, who is Jewish and has been supportive of Israel, was seen by some as a risky choice.
In a statement after Vance’s comments, Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler highlighted Walz’s biography as a veteran, teacher and football coach before his career in politics. Walz flipped a Republican-held congressional district in 2006 and held the seat for five terms before running for governor in 2018.
“Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz will spend the next 91 days crisscrossing the country on a message of opportunity, building up the middle class instead of cutting taxes for the rich, and fighting for our fundamental freedoms, including reproductive freedom,” Tyler said.
Meanwhile, Walz has formed a key part of the recent messaging from Democrats by labeling Vance and Trump as “weird,’ which the Harris campaign and surrogates have adopted. A Harris campaign official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to preview Walz’s remarks, said the governor will further define the contrast between the tickets’ policy differences, specifically focusing on abortion, health care and the middle class.
Vance said he would not commit to debating Walz until he is confirmed as the vice-presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this month. He told reporters earlier on his campaign plane that he had called Walz to wish him congratulations. Walz didn’t answer but he left a message.
The Philadelphia audience, made up of local Republicans invited to the closed event, listened to stories of Pennsylvania families who lost loved ones to fentanyl overdoses and cheered as Vance went after Harris’s position on border security
Vance will follow Harris and Walz on the campaign trail this week as they embark on a tour of battleground states, in Wisconsin and Michigan on Tuesday and North Carolina on Wednesday. (Harris postponed events in North Carolina because of Tropical Storm Debby as of Tuesday but Vance has not moved his scheduled events.)
Vance also previewed what is expected to be an ongoing attack line against Walz, tying him to images of burning buildings during the racial justice protests in Minneapolis after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 during Walz’s first term as governor. Republican strategists have foreshadowed that such messaging will become increasingly common in ads and events.
“Nobody knows who Tim Walz is outside of Minnesota,” said Mike Berg, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “Walz will be introduced to Midwestern voters as the governor who let Minnesota burn during the 2020 riots and supported making Minnesota a sanctuary state.”
In the audience at Vance’s event, Janet DePaul, a Pennsylvania voter in her 50s, said she hadn’t realized Walz was governor of Minnesota during the protests until Vance brought it up — cementing her belief that Walz was left-wing.
“I didn’t realize that he let the rioting go on,” she said.
On the other hand, Deborah McGinley, a 53-year-old Pennsylvania voter, said she didn’t come away with any different impression of Walz than she already had from listening to friends in Minnesota who complained about the destruction caused by protests in 2020. She said she understood why Vance instead focused most of his remarks on introducing himself to voters there for the first time and talking about issues.
“He is far, far left for me,” she said of Walz. “My mind would have never been changed with what JD was saying.”