By The Related Press
Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her operating mate, seeking to strengthen the Democratic ticket in Midwestern states.
After an introduction from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, she and Walz made their joint debut at a rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia, kicking off their battleground state tour.
Observe the AP’s Election-2024 protection at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
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Vance jokes about testing Air Drive Two
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance mentioned he had a little bit of enjoyable Wednesday making an attempt to meet up with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris because the pair used the identical Wisconsin airport as a part of competing marketing campaign journey.
“I just wanted to check out my future plane,” he joked with reporters after strolling off the Donald Trump marketing campaign airplane and strolling straight over to Air Drive Two, which had landed with vice chairman and her operating mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Vance used the stunt to jab Harris for not having performed an prolonged interview or full press convention since she started her marketing campaign July 21 after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid.
“I also wanted to go say hello to the vice president and ask her why Kamala Harris refuses, why does she refuse to answer questions from the media,” Vance mentioned. “I don’t think the vice president waved at me as she drove away.”
Indie band Bon Iver headlines Harris and Walz marketing campaign rally
Indie band Bon Iver was warming up an out of doors viewers ready for Kamala Harris to take the stage in Eau Claire, with “The Battle Cry of Freedom.”
“We’re all here for the right reasons,” lead singer Justin Vernon, with the Eau Claire-based band, mentioned earlier than breaking right into a sluggish, bluesy model of the Civil Battle-era anthem.
The band was opening on the grounds of Eau Claire Occasion District for Harris’ first look in swing state Wisconsin Wednesday along with her operating mate, Gov. Tim Walz, from close by Minnesota.
“Let’s go!” Vernon instructed the gang of 1000’s earlier than leaving the stage in anticipation of the looks of the Democratic ticket.
Harris and Vance cross paths on the tarmac at Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley Regional Airport
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, particularly Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, is the middle of the political universe in the mean time.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance each landed and have been on the tarmac outdoors the northwestern Wisconsin metropolis, planning to carry separate marketing campaign occasions scheduled for a similar time within the afternoon.
Harris, who arrived in Air Drive Two, disembarked and left for her occasion, the place she was to talk along with her operating mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Vance’s plane could possibly be seen taxiing as he ready for his rally. Earlier than leaving for his occasion, Vance walked over to get a better take a look at Air Drive Two, the plane he hopes to contemplate his primary type of journey starting in January.
Wisconsin is among the many handful of states thought of essentially the most aggressive, the place Democratic President Joe Biden received by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020.
Harris marketing campaign has raised $36 million since Walz announcement
The Harris marketing campaign is constant a powerful fundraising wave after the vice chairman picked Walz as her operating mate.
The marketing campaign mentioned Wednesday that it has raised $36 million within the first 24 hours after the formal vice chairman candidate announcement.
The 2 VP candidates have one thing in widespread: A thirst for Weight loss plan Mountain Dew
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio have one factor in widespread moreover being candidates for vice chairman – Weight loss plan Mountain Dew.
Walz doesn’t drink espresso, however he’s regularly noticed with a fluorescent inexperienced plastic bottle of his caffeinated beverage of alternative.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan as soon as tweeted a photograph of him grabbing a chilly one, saying, “He’s Dew’n it again! #dadjoke.” He replied, “Had to Dew it.”Turning into Kamala Harris’ operating mate doesn’t seem more likely to change Walz’s habits. Minneapolis resident Scott Svare mentioned he noticed somebody who gave the impression to be with Walz’s safety element loading two bottles of Weight loss plan Mountain Dew into an SUV on Tuesday.
Vance’s love for the yellow soda spurred a jab from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear when he was nonetheless within the combine to turn into Harris’ operating mate.
“Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?” Beshear requested rhetorically in a CNN interview, suggesting that Vance was inauthentically Appalachian.Earlier that week, Vance had mentioned at a rally in Ohio that he’d had a Weight loss plan Mountain Dew that day and added jokingly that he anticipated to be referred to as a “racist” due to it. Beshear later apologized to the producer – however to not Vance.Nonetheless, Beshear mentioned he thought Kentuckians have been extra more likely to flip to Ale-8-One as their tender drink of alternative.
Vance says voters resolve based mostly on who’s on the prime of the ticket
Requested about Trump’s feedback that the VP choose doesn’t dramatically have an effect on voters’ strikes, Vance mentioned he believed voters make selections based mostly on the highest of the ticket, however took a possibility to go after his newest rival.
Vance mentioned Wednesday in Michigan that Walz is a “crazy radical” and that selecting him exhibits Harris “bends the knee to the far left of the Democratic Party.”
Sen. Ron Johnson says Wisconsin voters will reject Walz as being too liberal
As soon as Wisconsin voters study extra about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s document, they may reject him as being too liberal, Wisconsin Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson mentioned Wednesday forward of Walz making his first go to to the battleground state as Vice President Kamala Harris’ operating mate.
Harris and Walz are scheduled to carry a rally in western Wisconsin, solely about an hour east of the Minnesota border.
“He is part of the radical, crazy left as is Vice President Harris,” Johnson mentioned on a information convention name. “I don’t think that appeals to Wisconsinites if the mainstream media actually reports on his position instead of something nobody is talking about: (Project) 2025.”
Wisconsin Republican Occasion chair Brian Schimming mentioned Harris picked Walz as a result of she’s fearful about carrying Minnesota and needs to shore up Democratic help within the so-called blue wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
“I actually think this pick hurts her in Wisconsin because of Gov. Walz’s policies,” Schimming mentioned. “A pick like Tim Walz is not one that expands the appeal of the ticket. It’s extremely ideological.”
Vance says he was welcomed in Michigan ‘despite the fact that I’m an Ohio State man’
Vance is utilizing a cease at a Michigan police division to speak about what he sees as failed immigration insurance policies which are Harris’ fault.
“We’ve got to throw Kamala Harris out of office, not give her a promotion,” Vance mentioned, arguing that he and Trump help regulation enforcement and regulation and order, whereas Harris doesn’t.
Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide launched Vance, who mentioned he obtained a briefing from officers forward of his remarks.
Vance invoked the longstanding sports activities rivalry between his residence state and Michigan: “These guys have given me an incredible welcome despite the fact that I’m an Ohio State guy.”
Former Rep. Mike Rogers noticed on sidelines of Vance cease north of Detroit
Contemporary off his win in Michigan’s Republican Senate major, Rogers is out to see Sen. JD Vance stump in his residence state.
Rogers secured the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan in Tuesday’s major and can face Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin within the November election.
Rogers has the backing of nationwide Republican teams and former President Donald Trump. He defeated former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash and doctor Sherry O’Donnell.
He and Slotkin will now compete for a seat left open by longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s retirement.
Trump says he’ll debate Harris and predicts there’ll be an announcement about it quickly
The previous president’s feedback got here after he pulled out of a scheduled debate on ABC Information.
“I hear she’s sort of a nasty person but not a good, good debater. But we’ll see because we’ll be debating her, I guess in the pretty near future. It’s going to be announced fairly soon but we’ll be debating her,” Trump in an interview on Fox Information Channel’s “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday.
Trump mentioned he desires to debate Harris and he would like it to be on Fox, which is perceived as being friendlier to him, however mentioned “every network loves me very much right now” and even urged openness to debating on ABC Information regardless of his protestations in latest weeks as he claimed the community was biased in opposition to him.
He claimed there “might be” a battle with ABC Information as a result of he sued the community in March following an announcement by anchor George Stephanopoulos that Trump had been discovered “liable for rape.” A New York jury discovered Trump accountable for sexually abusing recommendation columnist E. Jean Carroll however rejected her declare that she was raped.
“You could use that as an excuse. I could use that. I’ve said that, is there a conflict. And you know, there might be,” Trump mentioned.
Trump agreed to the ABC debate two months after submitting his lawsuit on the time when he initially was anticipated to face President Joe Biden. He’s lately cited his frustrations with Stephanopoulos as cause why he wouldn’t hold the talk dedication, together with the truth that he agreed to it when he thought he can be debating Biden, not Harris, and claimed that settlement was scuttled by Biden ending his reelection bid.
However Trump on Wednesday famous that ABC had mentioned the talk can be moderated by “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and “ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis, which he didn’t voice any objections about.
Trump didn’t provide any additional particulars.
With Walz on the nationwide ticket, a colleague is taking on his function main the occasion’s governors
The Democratic Governors Affiliation introduced Wednesday that Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly would assume Walz’s publish as chairman of the group.
Walz gave up his publish as chairman Tuesday, when Harris tapped him as her vice presidential operating mate, however continues to function Minnesota’s governor.
Kelly, in her second time period as Kansas governor, has served because the DGA’s vice chair since late 2022. In an announcement, she credited Walz with “breaking fundraising records and putting Democratic candidates for governor in the best position to be competitive in tough races this year” throughout his time main the DGA.
Sen. JD Vance is hitting the marketing campaign path once more Wednesday, however he’s not going it alone
The GOP vice presidential nominee boarded his marketing campaign airplane alongside together with his spouse, Usha.
Vance is heading to the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin — the identical two states his Democratic opponents are hitting, on the identical day.
The Democrats’ Midwest swing comes a day after Vice President Kamala Harris formally unveiled Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her operating mate and appeared with him at a rally in Philadelphia, simply hours after Vance made a marketing campaign cease in the identical metropolis.
Each campaigns had deliberate to journey to North Carolina this week as properly however referred to as off these plans attributable to inclement climate considerations.
Harris-Walz vs. Trump-Vance: It’s now an expanded battle for each the Solar Belt and Rust Belt
Essentially the most turbulent presidential marketing campaign in generations is now set to play out as a 90-day dash throughout two fronts: the Rust Belt and the Solar Belt.
Together with her alternative of a Midwestern governor as a operating mate, Vice President Kamala Harris pushed to shore up “Blue Wall” states — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — that Democrats must win to maintain the White Home.
Harris, the primary Black lady and lady of South Asian descent to go a significant occasion ticket, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, can even be locked in Solar Belt competitors to win Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina, an electoral map that has expanded since Biden’s choice to withdraw from the race.
An underappreciated jump-start for Walz
Tim Walz had two bounce begins, the primary largely unnoticed, the second underappreciated.
The primary got here earlier this 12 months when the governor and the vice chairman visited a Deliberate Parenthood clinic in St. Paul. That go to underscored shared values between the 2, in line with individuals acquainted with Harris’ considering. Key points that resonated with Harris included Walz’s advocacy for in vitro fertilization and baby tax credit — an concept Walz has utilized in Minnesota.
The subsequent key second got here July 23, two days after Biden’s withdrawal, when Walz went on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and uttered a dig at Trump and Vance that rapidly went viral.
“These guys are just weird,” Walz mentioned, in his signature conversational, casual method.
For years, Democrats, together with Biden and Harris, have leveled high-minded assaults on Trump as a menace to democracy. They spotlighted his authorized troubles, racist and sexist rhetoric, the hard-right insurance policies discovered within the “Project 2025” agenda that Trump disavows. The jovial governor of Minnesota encapsulated it multi functional phrase: “weird.” And he smiled whereas doing it.
Social media did its factor, and the Harris marketing campaign took discover. Inside days, the vice chairman — and different vice-presidential contenders — have been utilizing “weird” like an epithet.
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