Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, JD Vance campaigning Wednesday in Eau Claire, Wisconsin
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — With just 90 days until Election Day, the battleground state of Wisconsin hosted dueling presidential campaign events on Wednesday about an hour and a half east of the Twin Cities.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz held their second rally together in Eau Claire, where they were joined by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin and musician Bon Iver, a native of the city.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, was also in Eau Claire for a press event at airline equipment manufacturer NMC-Wollard.
Walz emphasizes his Midwestern roots at rally appearance
Walz took the stage Wednesday afternoon, immediately cementing himself in his Midwestern roots.
"Hello Eau Claire! Isn't it good to have a candidate who can pronounce the name correctly?" he laughed.
Walz spent the first portion of his speech introducing himself to the crowd, running through his resume as a public school teacher, football coach, and former National Guard Member.
He then went on to attack Trump, who he said "has no understanding of service, because he's too busy servicing himself."
"This guy weakens our country to strengthen his own hands," Walz said.
Walz then transitioned to the subject of "freedom," a central talking point for the Republican campaign. But "freedom," Walz argued, should not allow the government to be involved in a person's particular choices.
"We respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make," Walz said. "Even if we wouldn't make the same choices for ourselves, because we know there's a golden rule: Mind your own damn business. I don't need you telling me about our healthcare, I don't need you telling us who we love, and I sure as hell don't need you telling me what books we're gonna read."
He paused his speech briefly to check in on someone in the crowd, who it appeared had gotten overheated over the course of the rally. After staff members assisted the person, Walz continued attacking Trump, saying he wants to take the country "back" by "raising costs for the middle class, repealing the affordable care act."
"Yes they are creepy and weird as hell," Walz said, using his signature phrase that gained traction in recent days to describe Republican viewpoints. "This is not normal behavior. Nobody's asking for this crazy stuff."
"This is a campaign about where we're going, and that's a future where everyone matters and everyone's included," he said at the end, to cheers from the crowd, before he introduced Harris.
Vance goes after "Harris administration," Walz pick
At the event, Vance attacked "the Harris administration," repeatedly blaming the vice president, without evidence, for allowing undocumented immigrants to enter the country and raising prices on everything from energy to groceries.
Vance claimed "things were better" under former President Donald Trump.
"The most consistent complaint that I hear is that it is harder and harder for normal people to get by," Vance said.
Vance also went after Walz, whom he repeatedly called "Waltz," saying, again without evidence, that the Minnesota governor "actively encouraged the rioters who burned down Minneapolis" in 2020.
Harris picking Walz, Vance said, shows she is capitulating to "defund the police radicalism" and "open borders policies," as well as that she "bent the knee to the Hamas caucus of the Democratic Party" by spurning Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish.
Vance also addressed the recent Democratic rhetoric that he, Trump and other MAGA Republicans are "weird." He made exaggerated claims about Harris' and Walz's policy decisions, like that Walz tried to "take children away from their parents if their parents don't want to consent to sex changes," saying those decisions were, in fact, weird.
"We're normal guys that want to make this country great again," Vance said.
Vance repeatedly painted himself — a Yale graduate and New York Times bestselling author — and Trump — a millionaire and former reality TV star — as "normal" people and representatives of the working class.
"Fundamentally we're united on taking this country back and making sure people are able to live good lives in this wonderful country that all of us love," he said.
The Democratic ticket
Harris formally introduced Walz during a rally on Tuesday in Philadelphia, where the governor sought to contrast the values of his ticket to those of Trump and Vance.
"Donald Trump sees the world a little differently than us," Walz said. "First of all, he doesn't know the first thing about service. He doesn't have time for it because he's too busy serving himself. Again and again and again, Trump weakens our economy to strengthen his own hand."
On Tuesday alone, the Harris-Walz campaign raised more than $20 million.
WCCO spoke with Harris-Walz supporters who lined up for hours before Wednesday's Eau Claire rally, with many describing the ticket as emanating "hope."
"Hope. Joy again. Feeling like our country can recognize and work together and we'll all be humans again, and be heard," said Jody Erickson, of La Crosse.
"There's hope for my grandchildren, there's hope for my great-grandchildren, there's hope for the whole country," said Pua Fernandez, of La Crosse. "It feels like we can be present. We don't have to hide, and that's been a long, long time."
The Republican ticket
Trump was interviewed by phone on Wednesday morning on Fox News' "Fox and Friends," where he told the hosts he was "thrilled" by Harris' pick.
"I would say my reaction is I can't believe it. I never thought this was going to be the one that was picked," Trump said. "(Walz is) a very, very liberal man and he's a shocking pick, and I'm thrilled. I could not be more thrilled."
Vance says he called and congratulated Walz on Tuesday and looks forward to debating him. Walz says he's ready to take Vance on.
The senator also told the media on Tuesday that Walz's selection is an alarming one.
"This is a radical human being who comes from the far-left wing of the Democratic Party. And what Kamala Harris is telling all of us by selecting Tim Walz is that she bends the knee to the far left of the Democrat Party," Vance said.
Trump and Vance made their first appearance in Minnesota as running mates two weeks ago at St. Cloud's Herb Brooks Arena, drawing thousands to the area.
Polling: Walz has low name recognition; most find Vance "unfavorable"
A new NPR-PBS Marist poll shows while Walz is largely unknown, Vance faces a growing unfavorable rating.
The poll found that 71% of U.S. adults never heard of Walz and didn't know how to rate him.
Meanwhile, the poll found Vance had a 34% favorable rating and a 43% unfavorable rating.
Harris and Walz will also visit Michigan later on Wednesday, and they're scheduled to make three more campaign stops this week:
- Detroit, Michigan, on Thursday
- Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday
- Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday
Trump's next rally is scheduled for Friday evening in Bozeman, Montana.
Democrats will publicly nominate Harris and Walz at the Democratic National Convention, which starts on Aug. 19 in Chicago.