The Minnesota governor, who was once a high school football coach, delivered what he called a ‘pep talk’ on the upcoming election.
CHICAGO—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz gave one of the most important speeches of his career on Thursday evening at the Democratic National Convention, accepting his party’s nomination for vice president.
“It’s the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States,” Walz said to a thunderous reception on the convention’s third night.
“We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason: We love this country.”
During his 15-minute remarks, Walz focused on his personal life, occasionally attacking JD Vance, who accepted the Republican nomination for vice president last month.
He began his speech by touting his rural town roots.
“I grew up in Valentine, Nebraska, a town of 400 people. I had 24 kids in my school class, and none of them went to Yale,” he said.
“And I‘ll tell you what, growing up in a small town like that, you’ll learn how to take care of each other.”
He went on to highlight his military service, political experience, and time spent teaching in public schools.
“I learned how to work across the aisle on issues like growing the rural economies and taking care of veterans, and I learned how to compromise without compromising my values,” he said.
Towards the end of his speech, Walz used his background as a high school football coach to give a “pep talk” on the upcoming election.
“It’s the fourth quarter, we are down a field goal, but we’re on offense, and we’ve got the ball,” he said. “We are driving down the field and boy do we have the right team. Kamala Harris is tough, Kamala Harris is experienced and Kamala Harris is ready.”
On Aug. 6, Vice President Kamala Harris chose Walz as her running mate following a two-week vetting process.
Speaking at their first joint rally in Philadelphia on the same day, Harris described Waltz as “a fighter for the middle class” and “a patriot.”
From National Guard to Politics
Walz, 60, began his career in the Army National Guard, serving for 24 years, before becoming a high school teacher in Mankato, Minnesota. He was elected to Congress in 2006, defeating incumbent Republican Gil Gutknecht in Minnesota’s First Congressional District, and was re-elected for another five terms.
He was the highest-ranking enlisted soldier to serve in Congress and was rated the seventh most bipartisan representative in the 114th Congress by the Lugar Center at Georgetown University.
In 2018, Walz defeated Republican Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson to become the 41st governor of Minnesota.
Walz used his acceptance speech to share his personal story, allowing Americans to better know the Minnesota governor.
“I’ve loved Tim since we were teachers at the same high school,” his wife, Gwen Walz, stated on X on Aug 22.
“Whether it’s on a farm, fishing boat, or football field, his commitment to service comes from the values we grew up with. I’m so happy the world now gets to know him.”
Walz is seen as popular with Midwestern and union voters and is sometimes highlighted for his military background. His appeal to rural voters and military veterans could help him in blue-wall states such as Michigan and Wisconsin.
The Minnesota governor, however, has come under increasing criticism from Republicans for allegedly misrepresenting his military service.
Prior to his speech, 50 Republican lawmakers, all military veterans, sent a letter to Walz, accusing him of “egregious misrepresentations” of the nature of his military service and urged him “to come clean to the American people.”
Walz, however, pushed back against such criticism and defended his military service record.
“I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record,” Walz said at an event in Los Angeles on Aug. 13.
Rural, Progressive Appeal
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who briefly ran a longshot campaign against Biden, lauded Walz’s background.
“Tim Walz is a National Guardsman, a teacher, comes from rural America, knows how to plow his driveway and fix a lawnmower, and his superpower is just normalness,” Phillips told The Epoch Times.
“He served in essentially a red district in Congress, moved a little left, of course, as governor of Minnesota, but I think in his heart, a man of common sense and decency and will be quite refreshing, should he become vice president.”
Phillips also said the Midwest is often underrepresented in American politics.
“I’m really pleased, frankly, to see both tickets have vice presidential candidates that are not from New York or California,” he said, referring to Walz and JD Vance.
A group of nearly 50 progressive leaders from states throughout the country co-signed a letter on July 30 urging Harris to pass on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and pick either Walz or Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
The group suggested the Democratic Party needed a vice presidential candidate who would “represent and connect with rural communities that have felt left behind in recent elections.”
In office, Walz spearheaded a plan to provide universal free school meals for students, pushed to get Minnesota on 100 percent “clean electricity” by 2040, and expanded paid leave for workers. The governor also signed a hands-free driving bill into law, which prohibits the use of cellphones while driving.
Speaking on the second day of the convention, former President Barack Obama praised Walz.
“Let me tell you something, I love this guy,” Obama said of Walz. “Tim’s the kind of person who should be in politics—somebody who was born in a small town, served his country, taught kids, coached football, took care of his neighbors.”
The former president also joked about Walz’s flannel shirts, drawing a nod from his wife, Gwen Walz.
“You can tell those flannel shirts he wears don’t come from some political consultant, they come from his closet—and they have been through some stuff!”
Jacob Burg contributed to this report.