Kamala Harris and her candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, continued their tour of swing states with rallies in rural Wisconsin and Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday that the campaign said drew more than 10,000 people, The Guardian reports.
The rallies, which followed a raucous event in Philadelphia, were an opportunity for Harris to introduce Walz, previously a little-known Midwestern governor, to Democrats in crucial states.
The rally in Eau Claire, a city in northwestern Wisconsin less than two hours from Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, drew participants from both states – and 12,000 people in total, according to campaign officials. A rally in Detroit on Wednesday night drew 15,000 supporters in another crucial state, the Harris campaign told reporters. Walz called the rally “the largest of the entire campaign.”
The large Detroit crowd repeatedly chanted “We’re not going backwards,” the Democrats’ response to Trump’s anti-abortion policies and the slogan “Make America Great Again.”
Attendees in Wisconsin said they were enthusiastic about Harris and Walz’s ticket. “I’m thrilled,” Lori Schlecht said, a Minnesota teacher who said she was excited about Walz’s appearance given his experience in public education – Walz was a public school teacher before being elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006. She also added:
Minnesota is blessed to have him, and I’m glad to see him at the national level. He is authentic and real – he’ll get shit done.
Many Minnesotans who attended the event noted that Walz’s down-to-earth demeanour is an asset to the Democratic party ticket. Colin Mgam, who is 65 and retired and drove from St. Paul for the rally, said:
Walz is my homeboy. He brings straight talk, and he’s going to do well.
While Midwest Democrats extolled Walz as “one of us,” the Harris campaign announced Wednesday that it had raised $36 million from supporters within 24 hours of announcing his candidacy as Harris’ running mate.
The rallies were not without upheaval, with protesters from the Detroit crowd briefly attempting to disrupt Harris’ speech. Reporters on the scene said the speech was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters chanting:
Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide. We will not vote for genocide.
In Wisconsin, Walz spoke first, emphasising his Midwestern ancestry and noting that his relatives were in the crowd. He said:
Being a midwesterner, I know something about commitment to the people.
He also detailed his experiences as a football coach, social studies teacher and service in the Minnesota National Guard, highlighting his role as a kind of Democratic Party ambassador to rural and working-class Americans.
And he addressed Trump directly. Walz said:
Don’t believe him when he plays dumb. He knows exactly what he’s talking about. He knows exactly what Project 2025 will do in restricting and taking our freedoms. He knows that it rigs the economy for the super rich if he gets a chance to go back to the White House. It will be far worse than it was four years ago.
In Michigan, Harris repeated her popular line of attack that, as a former prosecutor, she “knows the Donald Trump type,” but she had to cut off her supporters’ repeated chanting of “Lock him up!” when she spoke about Trump’s recent convictions, telling them that the courts will deal with it and that “we will defeat him in November.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, J.D. Vance went on the offensive, attacking the military background of Tim Walz. Donald Trump’s Republican running mate said:
You know what really bothers me about Tim Walz? When the United States Marine Corps … asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do and I did it honorably, and I’m very proud of that service. When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him.
Now a US senator from Ohio, the 40-year-old Vance went to Iraq in 2005 as a war journalist. Despite his title – combat correspondent – he was not involved in combat.
Waltz, 60, served 24 years in the National Guard, infantry and artillery, and participated in disaster response in the US and Europe in support of operations in Afghanistan. He resigned in 2005 to run for Congress, shortly before his unit went to Iraq.
Vance used footage released by the Harris campaign that, while discussing gun control reform, shows Walz saying:
We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war is the only place where those weapons are at.
Vance also said:
He says, “We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on the American streets.” Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq? He has not spent a day in a combat zone. What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not.
Observers have speculated that Vance is trying to “railroad” Walz – a reference to attacks on John Kerry, the Vietnam veteran and Massachusetts senator who ran for president against George W. Bush in 2004.
Bush avoided serving in Vietnam, but Republicans attacked Kerry anyway. The Republican operative (and wounded Gulf War veteran) whom many credit with coordinating the effort, Chris LaCivita, is now running Trump and Vance’s campaign.
In a statement, the Harris campaign said:
After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he chaired veterans affairs and was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform … As vice-president … he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families. In his 24 years of service, the Governor carried, fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times. Governor Walz would never insult or undermine any American’s service to this country – in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It’s the American way.
