Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz urges voters to ‘turn the page’ on Donald Trump

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Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz has criticized Donald Trump as bizarre and extremist while calling on Americans to “turn the page” on the Republican candidate and support Kamala Harris for president.

Walz also promoted Harris as a defender of freedom and patriotism in his keynote speech on Tuesday night. Democracy National Convention, as the party seeks to contrast itself with Trump and cast the former president as unfit for office and out of step with mainstream American values.

“Leaders don’t spend their days criticizing people and blaming other people. Leaders do things,” the Minnesota governor said in a passionate speech on Wednesday. “So I don’t know about you, I’m ready to turn the page on these guys.”

Since Harris launched her campaign last month after President Joe Biden dropped out of the White House race, Democrats have increasingly painted Trump as old, weak and selfish, while warning that he is a strongman who threatens American democracy.

They also focused their message on protect personal freedom to abortion rights, gun safety and voting rights.

“When we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people you love, the freedom to make your own health care decisions,” Walz said. “The freedom for your kids to go to school and not worry about being shot dead in the hallway.”

Walz, who rose from political obscurity to become Harris’ running mate, has become one of the party’s fiercest critics of Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, labeling them and their platforms “bizarre.”

On Wednesday, Walz added a twist, describing Project 2025, the sweeping conservative policy platform that Trump has sought to distance himself.as “an unwanted agenda”.

“Is it weird? Sure. But it’s also wrong and dangerous,” Walz said.

Pete Buttigieg, the US Secretary of Transportation and former presidential candidate who has also been considered as a potential vice presidential running mate for Harris, said Trump and Vance are “spiking the negativity and resentment.”

“I just don’t think America wants more darkness,” Buttigieg said.

Walz delivered a keynote speech in Chicago shortly after Oprah Winfrey, the popular TV talk show host, made a surprise appearance and made a passionate plea for voters to support Harris and confront the “bullies in their lives.”

Democrats’ efforts to portray themselves as the more patriotic party — with audiences chanting “USA” in unison — have been aided by Republicans as they seek to distance themselves from Trump.

“Let me be clear to my Republican friends watching at home: If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you are not a Democrat,” said Geoff Duncan, the former lieutenant governor of Georgia. “You are a patriot.”

Earlier in the evening, former President Bill Clinton also criticized Trump.

“The next time you hear him speak, don’t count the lies, count the I’s,” Clinton said. “His feuds, his revenge, his complaints, his plots, he… says ‘I, I, I, I.’ When Kamala Harris is president, every day will begin with you, you, you, you.”

Walz, 60, a former school teacher, American football coach and Army National Guard veteran who served six terms in the US House of Representatives, is seen as an asset to Harris as she seeks to win over working-class voters in swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Other potential running mates considered by the campaign include Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.

The Trump campaign has sought to portray Walz as a dangerous liberal who has misrepresented more than two decades of service in the National Guard. Republican hardliners have also raised questions about Walz’s relationship with China.

Polls show Walz is popular with many voters despite being largely unknown to many. A new poll by Democratic pollster Blueprint on Wednesday found that 44 percent of voters had a favorable view of Walz, but 22 percent said they had never heard of him or had no opinion of him.