Tim Walz

Look, I know guns. I’m a veteran. I’m a hunter. And I was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress, and I’ve got the trophies to prove it.

Timothy James Walz (born April 6, 1964) is an American politician, veteran, and former educator serving as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he is Kamala Harris' running mate and the Democratic nominee for vice president in the 2024 United States presidential election.

Quotes

• They spent so much money in his first campaign making him look like a buffoon ... You're with him for five minutes and you see that's not true.
  • as quoted in "Al Franken takes Senate job seriously (he's still funny in private)", The Los Angeles Times (September 2, 2014)

• This is racism, plain and simple, and we need to call it that.
  • On Donald Trump's referring to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries”, as quoted in John Bowden "Trump's 's---hole' remark sparks bipartisan backlash B", The Hill (11 January 2018)

• Do you think he knows the story behind the YMCA song?
  • Walz on Trump's Fitness for Office (october 10, 2024 C-SPAN video)

After Joe Biden's withdrawal (July 21, 2024)

• These are weird people on the other side. They wanna take books away, they wanna be in your exam room. That’s what it comes down to and don’t, you know, get sugar-coating this: these are weird ideas.
  • From a USA Today story published when Kamala Harris announced she had chosen Walz as a running mate; Walz used the "weird" epithet during an MSNBC interview two weeks earlier. (July 23, 2024)

• Thank you, Madam Vice-President, for the trust we have put in me — but maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy. I am thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug — this incredible journey. 
  • Remarks after being chosen as Vice President nominee by Kamala Harris · "Vice President Harris Campaigns with Running Mate Gov. Tim Walz in Philadelphia", C-SPAN (6 August 2024)

• I can't wait to debate the guy–that is if he's willing to get off the couch and show up.
  • On J.D. Vance in August 2024, cited in "Kamala Harris and Tim Walz fire up crowd in first rally as Democratic ticket", The Guardian (August 6, 2024)

• Violent crime was up under Donald Trump. And that’s not even counting the crimes he committed.
  • "Walz makes Harris ticket debut with pointed attack on Trump", The Hill (August 6, 2024)

• I was born in a small town in Nebraska, where community meant everything. . . . At 17, I joined the Army National Guard. For 24 years, I proudly wore the uniform of this nation. . . . I had the privilege of teaching public school social studies and coaching football for 20 years. . . . I lived in a red district, but my neighbors . . . graced me with the opportunity to go to the United States House of Representatives for 12 years to represent them. . . . And as governor of the great state of Minnesota, I brought all that experience . . . to tackling the challenges that were facing our state.
  • From Walz’s remarks at a Harris/Walz campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. (August 7, 2024)

• [S]ome of us who have less hair and are old enough can remember when you could go to Thanksgiving . . . and not complain about politics the whole time . . . because you shared a commitment to democracy, a commitment to personal freedoms, a commitment to public education, a commitment to infrastructure.
  • From Walz’s remarks at a Harris/Walz campaign event in Rochester, Pennsylvania. (August 18, 2024)

Speech at Democratic National Convention (August 21, 2024)

"Full Transcript of Tim Walz’s Speech at the Democratic Convention", The New York Times (August 22, 2024)

• If you’ve never experienced the hell that is infertility, I guarantee you, you know somebody who has. I can remember praying each night for a phone call. The pit in your stomach when the phone would ring, and the absolute agony when we heard the treatments hadn’t worked.
• Freedom. When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office. Corporations — free to pollute your air and water. And banks — free to take advantage of customers. But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love. Freedom to make your own health care decisions. And yeah, your kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall.
• Look, I know guns. I’m a veteran. I’m a hunter. And I was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress, and I’ve got the trophies to prove it. But I’m also a dad. I believe in the Second Amendment, but I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe.
• You know, when I was teaching, every year we’d elect a student body president. And you know what? Those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a hell of a lot about what a leader is. Leaders don’t spend all day insulting people and blaming others. Leaders do the work.
• You know, you might not know it, but I haven’t given a lot of big speeches like this. But I have given a lot of pep talks. So let me finish with this, team. It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball. We’re driving down the field. And boy, do we have the right team.
• Look, we’ve got 76 days. That’s nothing. There’ll be time to sleep when you’re dead. We’re going to leave it on the field. That’s how we’ll keep moving forward. That’s how we’ll turn the page on Donald Trump. That’s how we’ll build a country where workers come first, health care and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom. That’s how 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. That’s how we’re going to fight.

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• I think we need to push back on this. There's no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech and especially around our democracy.
  • "Matt Taibbi on the Global Censorship-Industrial Complex" (at 16m59s), Honestly with Bari Weiss. (3 September 2024)

• Who would have ever thought we'd see Bernie Sanders, Dick Cheney and Taylor Swift [all endorsing Kamala Harris]?
  • As quoted by "In NC, Tim Walz and Bill Clinton praise Kamala Harris, contrast her with Trump," an article published in the Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper The News & Observer; the article was written by Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan. (October 17, 2024)

• [T]he economy works best when it's fair and focuses on the middle class.
  • As quoted by "In NC, Tim Walz and Bill Clinton praise Kamala Harris, contrast her with Trump," an article published in the Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper The News & Observer; the article was written by Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan. (October 17, 2024)

• When Kamala talks about freedom . . . (this is where the party of Reagan should be with it) {she means} the freedom for you to make decisions about your life, not government officials. . . . This room should be full of the people who fly the "Don't Tread on Me" flag cuz . . . we're the ones saying, "Not on our watch! Not on our watch!" . . . In Chicago we took back the flag from them, . . . we took back freedom . . . and just for good damn measure we're taking football back from them too!
  • Segment from a C-SPAN video entitled "Governor Tim Walz Campaigns in Racine, Wisconsin: 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee Governor Tim Walz (MN) spoke at a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin, two weeks ahead of Election Day." (quote starts at 12:36) (October 22, 2024)

Quotes about Walz

Mr. Walz brought passion every day. He loved to coach. He loved to teach. . . . Tim, he just had a way of not making you feel bad but making you want to do better.

• He packaged himself as a moderate from Day One, built an office centered on constituent service and carved out a niche as a tireless advocate for veterans.
  • James Hohmann on Walz's first election to Congress, as quoted in Politico (October 14, 2010)

• I am proud to announce that I've asked @Tim_Walz to be my running mate. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his. It's great to have him on the team. Now let’s get to work.
  • Kamala Harris post on X (formerly Twitter) declaring Walz as her pick for Vice President. (August 6, 2024)

• He'll unleash HELL ON EARTH
  • Donald Trump, quoted in "Donald Trump Claims Tim Walz Will 'Unleash HELL ON EARTH'", Huffington Post (August 6, 2024)

• Mr. Walz brought passion every day. He loved to coach. He loved to teach. [As for football,] if you don’t do your job, there’s literally a hole there for them to run the ball through. Tim, he just had a way of not making you feel bad but making you want to do better.
  • Mitch Salsbery, who played on the Mankato West High School football team in 1999; that year the team won the Minnesota state championship with Walz as an assistant coach (the defensive coordinator). The quote is from a US National Public Radio All Things Considered story entitled "What Mr. Walz’s former students have to say about the Democratic VP nominee." (August 9, 2024)

• I heard that when {Walz} was vetted {by the Harris campaign}, one of the questions they asked was how skilled is he at using a teleprompter, and he said: "I don’t use a teleprompter. You’re going to have to teach me how to do that." This is a teacher who knows what needs to be said, whether it’s on the field or in the classroom. He doesn’t need it written out on cue cards or teleprompters because it’s coming from the heart . . . .
  • Ashley A. Kannan, who teaches history and coaches girls’ basketball at Percy Julian Middle School in Oak Park, Illinois, as quoted by "In Tim Walz, many teachers see themselves — and an opportunity: Could Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick change how people see teachers? Educators hope so." From the nonprofit educational news organization Chalkbeat; the story was written by Gabrielle Birkner. (August 9, 2024)

• When you look at Tim, you see a Democratic governor delivering results in every community from the cities to the suburbs to rural towns. . . . [H]e has worked around the clock to help middle-class families get ahead. . . . Tim understands that we don’t govern to move a country or a state to the right or the left. Tim won his first race by recognizing that our job is to move our people forward . . . .
  • Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (who was himself vetted as a possible running mate for Kamala Harris), as quoted in "WATCH: Andy Beshear speaks on Tim Walz ahead of Day 3 at DNC in Chicago." Article written by staff writers at the Louisville Courier Journal. (August 21, 2024)

• By now it has become clear that the Democrats’ presidential ticket has simply changed out one old lying white guy for another.
  • Matt Beebe, "If Masculinity Is Bad, Why Didn’t Tim Walz Admit He Ran From War And Couldn’t Father A Child?", The Federalist (August 22, 2024)

• If Governor Walz becomes our VP, I hope he could help bring some of this thinking [regarding permitting reform for renewable energy projects] to the federal level. . . . It would make an incredible difference in the nation’s progress on climate.
  • Amelia Vohs, climate program director at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, discussing Walz's role in the passage of the Minnesota Energy Infrastructure Permitting Act (SF 4784/HF 4700). The quote is from an Associated Press article entitled "In boosting clean energy in Minnesota, Walz lays foundation for climate influence if Harris wins." The story was written by Jennifer McDermott and Isabella O’Malley. (August 25, 2024)

• During Walz’s governorship, student achievement in Minnesota has gone from among the best in the nation to declining more sharply than anywhere else in the [United States], according to the Minneapolis-based Center for the American Experiment. The most recent scores show Minnesota fourth graders dipping below the national average in reading for the first time ever recorded on the well-respected Nation’s Report Card.
  • Joy Pullmann, "Under Tim Walz, Minnesota Banned Christians From Teaching In Public Schools", The Federalist (August 27, 2024)

• Like, I think that Tim Walz is a great guy and I think he's got a lot of good political instincts, and I think he did the best he could, given the situation he was in. But there is a huge difference between being an outsider who steps in to offer a populist message to the American people and being a, like, friendly Midwestern left-leaning governor Democrat who gets picked as a VP, but is still ultimately beholden to the messaging and policies of your neoliberal President-- or, Presidential candidate.
  • Vaush, 6 November 2024 ELECTION DAY FALLOUT - WATCHING THE WORLD GET WORSE

External links

• Governor Tim Walz official government website
• Campaign website