Kamala Harris Selects Tim Walz, Founding Father of Weird-Shaming Republicans, as Running Mate

The Democratic veepstakes is over, CNN first reported Tuesday morning. Our winner? Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The folksy, charming former high school principal somehow managed to win over both Nancy Pelosi and chronically online progressives with his punchy cable news interviews, impressive policy record, and, perhaps above all, his pioneering line of attack on Republicans like Donald Trump and J.D. Vance: They’re fucking weirdos.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, officially announced Walz as her running mate shortly after the CNN report, and is expected to introduce him at a rally in Philadelphia later on Tuesday. “As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, [Walz has] delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team,” Harris wrote in a tweet announcing the Minnesota governor. In his own tweet, Walz called joining the Democratic ticket “the honor of a lifetime.” He wrote, “Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school.”

Harris’ weeks-long, white boy summer of a veepstakes reportedly came down to Walz and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose record on labor, charter schools, and Israel and Palestine ultimately risked alienating large swaths of the Democratic base.

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. Join us:https://t.co/W4AE2WlMTj

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 6, 2024

There’s a lot to like about Walz: Among numerous progressive achievements—particularly around gun safety, labor, and abortion rights—Walz has signed legislation guaranteeing universal free school meals across the state. It doesn’t hurt that he’s one of the only white men in the world with a digital footprint that somehow makes him more likable, including an adorable vlog of him and his teenage daughter at the state fair last year and, more recently, posts about nature (like this turkey), and recollections of his time in public education and how the stress of this led to early onset hair loss. 

But what may have cemented Walz as the pick was an iconic MSNBC interview last month, in which he made the case against the political party that’s spent the last few years honing in on policing kids’ genitals and obsessively trying to make us all give birth. “These are weird people on the other side. They want to take books away. They want to be in your exam room,” Walz said. “That’s what it comes down to. And don’t, you know, get sugarcoating this. These are weird ideas.” He then doubled down over the next several days, quote-tweeting clips of Trump speeches, “Say it with me: Weird.” 

It is the honor of a lifetime to join @kamalaharris in this campaign.

I’m all in.

Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school.

So, let’s get this done, folks! Join us. https://t.co/tqOVsw2OLM

— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 6, 2024

Republicans had no real response, because they are weird as hell. And quickly enough, Harris’ campaign took notice, adopting the strategy for itself. “JD Vance is weird,” reads one July press release, which then pulls direct quotes from Vance’s tirades against abortion rights and the existence of childless adults. Speaking of Vance, where the Republican vice presidential nominee has long railed against “childless cat ladies” and very publicly fought Jennifer Aniston about IVF, Walz has shared his personal story of struggling to have children—until he and his wife were able to conceive his daughter Hope by IVF. “My daughter Hope was named Hope for a reason,” he told HuffPost in February. “Because, married for eight years, no children, wanting children—we got Hope because of this type of stuff.”

Early last month, I made the embarrassing mistake of writing Walz off, giving him a meager 2.5-out-of-5 coconut rating in my veepstakes rankings and arguing “he probably wouldn’t bring a whole lot of excitement and energy to the ticket.” In my defense, Walz emerged out of relative obscurity! But it’s encouraging that the more people see and hear of him, the more they seem to like him. Vance certainly can’t say the same. Expect the Harris campaign to focus on boosting Walz’s name recognition and visibility in the coming days, ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which begins August 19.