Kamala Harris and Tim Walz debut at Philadelphia rally
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00:00It was America's introduction to Kamala Harris's appointed running mate. At a rally in Philadelphia,
00:06Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota began with a half hour of cheering for the two before
00:11going on the attack against former President Donald Trump and his running mate Senator J.D.
00:16Vance. The 60-year-old former school teacher and football coach has already been dubbed by some
00:21as the Ted Lasso of politics. Joining me now is our international affairs commentator Douglas
00:27Herbert. Tim Walz, Doug, making his debut as Kamala Harris's running mate at that rally in
00:34Philadelphia. And he came out punching, didn't he, Doug? And that was the intention. That is
00:39exactly what Kamala Harris is looking for in her running mate. Look, we're no longer in the era,
00:43Annette, when Michelle Obama used to say, when they go low, we go high. We're now in the era
00:49where you have to take the punches, give as good as you get against a Trump campaign, which has
00:55really demonstrated that it has no limits when it comes to trying to smear rivals. What he did
01:01and masterfully is the reason he was chosen. He's a plain spoken Midwesterner who is able to speak
01:08directly to people, but really take aim at Trump in a way and be heard by a lot of middle Americans,
01:15be heard in a way that perhaps Kamala Harris, a Californian seen as more progressive,
01:20perhaps cannot be heard. I just want you to hear one of the things he said. He came out first
01:24talking about service, saying Donald Trump doesn't have a clue about service. The only thing he knows
01:29about service is service to himself. But he went on then and he talked about the economy and crime.
01:34Listen what he had to say here. Trump weakens our economy to strengthen his own hand.
01:42He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division.
01:46And that's to say nothing of his record as president. Violent crime was up under Donald Trump.
01:54That's not even counting the crimes he committed. So he really, he always has, he has that witty sort
01:59of quip. Violent crime was up under Trump and that's not even counting the crimes that Trump
02:04committed. So obviously a not so subtle reference to Trump's litany of legal woes. The twice
02:11impeached president recently convicted of 34 felony counts. This is exactly what Kamala Harris
02:17needs right now. Needs someone who has that sort of Midwestern dad credibility with average
02:22American voters who can really take the fight to Donald Trump. And obviously not just to Donald
02:27Trump, but as the vice presidential nominee to J.D. Vance, who he also was pretty scathing about.
02:34Remember this was before he was governor. He was for 12 years a congressman and he served in a
02:40rural district of Minnesota, which is deep red. He was a very lonely Democrat there. And the fact
02:46he was able to do that shows his ability to sort of reach out across the aisle to be able to
02:50communicate people of perhaps different political and ideological leanings. And that is what Kamala
02:54Harris needs, the capital she needs right now politically to take this fight to Trump and his
02:59running mate J.D. Vance. Now within nanoseconds of that announcement being made, the Republicans
03:04were already sharpening their attack. What indeed are they saying?
03:09Exactly what they were expected to be saying. Look, they expected Josh Shapiro,
03:13Pennsylvania's governor, seen as more moderate perhaps to be the candidate. They hadn't
03:17really sharpened their attack against Walsh specifically until more recently. But now
03:22they're doing what people said they were going to do. No matter who was chosen would be painted as
03:26a dangerous radical left liberal. Framing Kamala Harris as dangerously liberal and now her running
03:32mate as well, trying a San Francisco style liberal. Obviously, the truth couldn't be,
03:40that couldn't be further from the truth. It is true that he has had a Democratic majority as
03:45governor of Minnesota, both houses of the Minnesota Congress, Senate and the House.
03:50They have passed a series of very progressive bills, but progressive, you might just call
03:53them humanist. We're talking bills that basically enshrined abortion rights in the state law in
03:59Minnesota, expanded voting rights freedoms, expanded gun controls and gun regulations and
04:06background checks for prospective gun owners. Also expanded free school lunches. I mean,
04:12this is economic populism, but you might also call it positive populism in a way, not mean
04:18right wing populism as his critics on the Republican side would see it. So he is not
04:24the progressive that the Republicans will try to paint him as. I'll just say one more thing.
04:28They're also going to take digs at the fact that in 2020, in the violent protests that followed
04:32the killing of an unarmed man by police, George Floyd, it was in his state in Minneapolis.
04:38He was criticized for being late to send in the National Guard to quell those protests. The
04:43Republicans, you can bet, are going to keep digging at that one. He apologized for that.
04:47He recognized that perhaps he should have sent them in earlier. But this is just one of the
04:52things Republicans will find any little fault, any kink in the armor, and they will go after it.
04:56They're already doing it. But I can say here firmly, objectively, he is not a far left radical
05:02liberal. Most Minnesotans would say just the opposite. He's pragmatic. He's Midwestern. And
05:07yes, he has had a progressive agenda, i.e. a humanist, economically populist agenda.
05:13Thanks for that, Doug. And another 91 days to go until the election day. Thank you.