ST. PAUL, Minn. – Governor Tim Walz acknowledged he is being vetted for the U.S. vice presidency on the Democratic ticket as running mate with Kamala Harris. Would he take the job? “I would do what is in the best interest of the country,” Walz said in a weekend CNN interview. Pressed on whether means serving as vice president, Walz replied: “We’ll cross paths when we get there.” Walz had been on most speculative short lists since Harris was tapped June 22 for president. Her vetting staff is headed by Eric Holder, who was attorney general under President Barack Obama. Walz is among Democratic leaders in the so-called Blue Wall of Upper Midwest states targeted by Republican Donald Trump in his third bid for president. Criteria being weighed by Holder are gender and ethnic balance and how many home-state votes the vice presidential choice can be drawn to the Democratic ticket. The choice will be for Harris to make She already knows everyone Holder’s list. An essential question: With whom does she see the strongest interpersonal and political chemistry.
Walz on network TV rounds
All the short-list possibilities have been auditioning. In a MSNBC interview, Walz called the Trump weird: “Listen to the guy,” Walz said. “He’s talking about Hannibal Lecter and shocking sharks and just whatever crazy thing pops into his mind.” The Walz word“weird” went viral in Democratic lexicon against Trump.
Split-screen interview. Walz coins the germ “weird” to describe Trump’s Hannibal Lecter references and shark shock talk. Asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper whether he wants to be vice president, Walz deferred: “We’ll cross paths when we get there.”
What if
The second Walz term as governor goes into 2027. If Walz became vice president, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, who shares Walz’ values, would become governor until an election. Flanagan is a member of the White Earth Nation and would become the state’s first woman of color in the governorship. She. served two terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Earlier she was a community organizer in Minneapolis.
“My observation on this is: Have you ever seen the guy laugh? That seems very weird to me, that an adult can go through 6-1/2 years of being in the public eye — if he has laughed, it’s at someone, not with someone, That is weird behavior, and I don’t think you call it anything else.”
The Walz biography has plusses. He’s a military veteran with 26 years in the National Guard, a public school teacher, a six-term congressman and a two-term governor in a Blue State. He has championed rural communities and the working class. As governor, he has signed state legislation to codify abortion rights, to legalize recreational marijuana, to limit access to guns, and to protect transgender youths, to expand paid family leave, and to provide universal school meals for children.
Trump v. Walz: No mere tete-a-tete
Trump already has called Walz an “ultra-liberal monster” The Walz reply: “What monster? Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn, and women are making their own health care decisions. And Minnesota as a Top 5 business state, and we also rank in the top three of happiness.” About Trump’s weekend campaign rally in St. Cloud, Walz said:
“Trump came after me during his long, rambling, weird speech. He doesn’t like that I went on Fox News this week and told the truth about him, his abysmal record, and the extreme right-wing agenda he and Vance plan to advance from the White House. Make no mistake: Trump and Vance are deeply out of step with the values of a majority of Americans.”