Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz formally accepted the Democratic vice presidential nomination in a speech where Walz contrasts former President Donald Trump’s agenda with Vice President Kamala Harris’s willingness to fight for her neighbors.
Delivering the headlining speech of the third night of the Democratic National Convention, Walz urged voters to turn the page to Harris’s America.
Walz’s speech was billed as a way for Democrats to connect with their missing demographic — male voters. Walz focused on his qualities and billed a new version of masculinity to contrast with the images and iconography promoted by the Republican Party.
Walz, who was hardly known outside midwestern Democrats before being tapped to be Harris’s running mate, discussed his journey to the convention stage during his speech Wednesday. Walz spoke about his small-town upbringing, serving in the Army National Guard, his time as a public school teacher and football coach, and the highlights of his political career.
As governor, Walz fought for red flag laws regarding gun purchasing, reproductive freedom, and lowering the cost of school lunches.
Walz said growing up in a small town in Nebraska instilled morals in him that he refuses to compromise in politics, including the importance of looking out for neighbors despite differences.
Walz also discussed his experience campaigning for political office as a Democrat in a red district, and his experience representing his neighbors.
“Growing up in a small town like that, you’ll learn how to take care of each other,” Walz said. “That family down the road, they may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do, they may not love like you do, but they’re your neighbors, and you look out for them, and they look out for you. Everybody belongs and everybody has a responsibility to contribute.”
Walz called out Project 2025, a conservative plan for former president Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office. Project 2025 calls for an expansion of presidential power, increased conservatism, and extreme political policies such as cutting federal agencies, banning pornography, and mass deportations.
Warning against what a Trump-Vance America would look like, Walz said the pair would increase costs for the middle class, repeal the Affordable Care Act, gut social security and Medicaid, and enforce a total abortion ban.
“They spend a lot of time pretending they know nothing about this,” Walz said. “But I coached high school football long enough to know, and trust me on this when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it.”
Trump claimed that he does not know who is behind Project 2025, but a CNN review uncovered at least 140 people who worked for him are involved in the conservative agenda.
Walz said Project 2025 is an agenda nobody asked for and only serves the richest people in the country.
“Is it weird?” Walz said. “Absolutely, absolutely, but it’s also wrong and it’s dangerous.”
Even before Walz was the vice presidential candidate, he became well-known for determining Trump and Republicans as “just weird.”
Leading the crowd into a chant of “We’re not going back,” Walz said presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris will offer something better to the American people by using her vast experience and energy, passion, and joy.
Listing Harris’ major platforms, Walz said she would cut taxes for middle-class families, reduce the cost of prescription drugs by taking on big pharma, lower housing costs, and fight for Americans to live the life they want to lead.
Closing his speech with a pep talk, Walz encouraged listeners to vote for Harris and “turn the page” on Donald Trump.
“We make America a place where no child is left hungry, where no community is left behind, where nobody gets told they don’t belong,” Walz said. “That’s how we’re going to fight. And as the next president of the United States always says: When we fight, we win.”