Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made his first solo campaign appearance as the Democratic vice presidential candidate Tuesday, telling unionists in Los Angeles that the Democratic primary led by Vice President Kamala Harris will pursue worker-friendly policies.
Walz appeared to tailor most of his 20-minute speech to an audience of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a public employees union with 1.4 million members.
Walz, who was a union member as a public school teacher in southern Minnesota before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006, praised policies Harris has championed in President Joe Biden’s administration, as well as those he pushed as governor of Minnesota.
Walz and Harris both come from working-class backgrounds, he said, adding that Harris worked at McDonald’s as a student.
“Vice President Harris has embraced this work ethic, going to work every day to ensure that families not only survive but thrive,” he said.
Harris has led the administration’s work to remove barriers to organizing and was a key vote in the U.S. Senate to pass the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill in 2021, which Walz said has kept public workers employed during the pandemic.
As governor, Walz said he made it easier to unionize, strengthened worker protections and banned “those damn public meetings for good,” referring to meetings that employers can order workers to attend before union votes to discourage them from supporting organizing.
Both Walz and Harris picketed with striking workers, he added.
Walz is the first former union official to appear on the presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan, who headed the Screen Actors Guild before entering politics in 1984. Unlike the two-term Republican president, who engaged in a high-profile standoff with the federal air traffic controllers union, Walz told the audience he would not “go out of his way” if elected.
Walz urged union representatives to get involved in organizing the campaign, saying that if the group can mobilize friends and neighbors, it could make a difference in an election that could be decided by tens of thousands of votes in several key states.
“It’s going to be a close, tough race,” he said. “But if every single one of us puts in an extra shift, an extra hour, a little bit more, we’ll wake up this morning after the election and we’ll know that the work we’ve done has changed the lives of millions of people, has changed generations, has affected the world.”
He ended his speech with a campaign slogan that Harris has used ever since, chanting to the crowd: “When we fight, we win.”
Attack on the Republican Party
Walz called for organizing unions to encourage Democratic voters to vote in November.
“I know I’m preaching to the choir a bit today,” he said. “But the choir’s got to sing.”
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, were “not in the chorus” of union supporters, Walz said.
Trump has said he supports “right to work” laws that make it harder for unions to organize, Walz said.
Walz recounted a conversation he had with United Autoworkers President Shawn Faine in which the union leader called Trump a derogatory term for a worker who opposes unions because of his stance on such legislation.
“I saw that our friend Shawn Fain from the UAW has a name for it, he called it a scab,” Walz said. “It’s not a name-calling, it’s just an observation, just to be clear.”
Project 2025
A second Trump administration will work to “put the screws to work for working people,” Walz said, noting that parts of the “Project 2025 to-do list” include curbs on union organizing and cuts to overtime.
Project 2025 is a list of policy goals developed by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, with input from former Trump administration officials. Democrats have worked to link Trump to the document, which they describe as radically conservative.
Trump has denied having any role in its development and has not committed to taking action on it if elected.
Walz, a former high school football coach, said Trump was “playing dumb” about the content of the 2025 Project.
“I’m a football coach at heart,” he said. “I’ll tell you one thing I know for sure: If you take the time to write a playbook, you’ll benefit from it.”
A broader message
Walz peppered his remarks with messages that seemed aimed at the broader general election audience, including advocating for reproductive rights and criticizing state GOP bans on books based on gender or race, as well as Trump’s stance on tax cuts for the wealthy.
Underscoring the campaign’s theme of freedom, Walz said the government should not interfere with “personal choices” such as how to raise a family, what books to read or whether to join a union.
“This country is great because we have the golden rule that makes things work. We mind our own damn business about these things,” he said.
He also defended himself against criticism of his performance in the Army National Guard, which has come under scrutiny from Republicans, including Vance, a Marine Corps veteran, who said Walz exaggerated his role and left his unit months before it was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
Walz said he was proud of his 24-year service in the National Guard, which he ended only in 2005 to run for Congress, where he joined the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
“I am proud of my service to this country,” he said. “And I believe deeply that service should never be demeaned. To anyone brave enough to put on this uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I have only a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
