U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on August 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
U.S. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accepted his party’s nomination for vice president Wednesday (August 21, 2024) night, using his Democratic National Convention address to thank the packed arena for “bringing the joy” to a U.S. election transformed by the elevation of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple, reason: We love this country,” Mr. Walz said as thousands of delegates hoisted vertical placards reading “Coach Walz” in red, white and blue.
Mr. Walz described his upbringing in Nebraska and teaching and coaching football in Minneosta and told the crowd, “Thank you for bringing the joy to this fight.”
“While other States were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” he said. In a dig at his Republican counterpart, J.D. Vance, he added, “I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale.”
When Mr. Walz talked about the difficulty conceiving his daughter, Hope, she made a heart with her hands and held it over her chest. His son, Gus, wept watching his dad speak and at least once shouted, “That’s my dad!”
“I haven’t given a lot of speeches like this but I’ve given a lot of pep talks,” Mr. Walz said.
Democrats gathered at Chicago’s United Center are hoping to build on the momentum Ms. Harris has brought since taking over the top of the party’s presidential ticket last month.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 21
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Many Americans had never heard of Mr. Walz until Ms. Harris made him her running mate. In his first weeks of campaigning, he’s charmed supporters with his background and helped to balance Ms. Harris’ coastal background as a cultural representative of Midwestern States whose voters she needs this fall.
But Mr. Walz also has faced scrutiny, including questions about embellishing his background. His wife this week clarified that she did not undergo in vitro fertilization, as Mr. Walz has repeatedly claimed, but used other fertility treatments. Republicans also have criticised Walz for a 2018 comment he made about carrying weapons in war. Though he served in the National Guard for 24 years, he did not deploy to a war zone.
Bill Clinton denounces Donald Trump
Mr. Walz’s speech followed former President Bill Clinton who returned to a place he knows well, the Democratic National Convention stage, to denounce Donald Trump as selfish and praise Kamala Harris as focused on the needs of Americans — firing up his party with his trademark off-the-cuff flourishes.
Mr. Clinton was meant to add heft to a third DNC night headlined by vice presidential nominee Tim Walz ‘s introduction to a national audience.
“We’ve got a pretty clear choice it seems to me. Kamala Harris, for the people. And the other guy who has proved, even more than the first go-around, that he’s about me, myself and I,” Mr. Clinton said.
The nation’s 42nd president and a veteran of his party’s political convention going back decades, Mr. Clinton was once declared the “secretary of explaining stuff” by Barack Obama, whose reelection bid in 2012 was bolstered by a Mr. Clinton stemwinder at that year’s DNC.
Now 78 — the same age as Mr. Trump — Mr. Clinton’s delivery was sometimes halting, his movements slower and he mispronounced Ms. Harris’ first name twice. His left hand often shook when he wasn’t using it to grip the lectern.
Still, he delivered several memorable, homespun pronouncements including asking. “What does her opponent do with his voice? He mostly talks about himself. So the next time you hear him, don’t count the lies, count the I’s.”
Trump slams DNC
Mr. Trump bashed the convention as a “charade” and noted the fact that he has been a frequent topic of conversation. He also singled out his predecessor, Mr. Obama, for a highly critical convention speech Tuesday night, saying Obama had been “nasty.”
