Donald Trump gave a sarcastic "thank you" to rival Kamala Harris after she chose a staunch progressive, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, to be her running mate.
The Walz pick has widely been seen as a missed opportunity to broaden Harris' appeal to moderates. Many Republicans have expressed relief that Harris did not choose Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro (D), whose state is a critical Rust Belt battleground.
Trump made his own feelings clear, writing, "THANK YOU!” on Truth Social.
Democrats have painted Walz as a moderate and "folksy," Midwestern dad, but Republicans see Walz as a gift, someone who could help them define Harris as dangerously extreme and out of touch.
In particular, Republicans have zeroed in on Walz's response to the George Floyd riots that exploded in his state in the summer of 2020. As rioters burned down Minneapolis, Walz hesitated to deploy the National Guard.
At the time, Harris supported a notorious bail fund to help the rioters. Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance labeled Harris and Walz an "interesting tag team."
"If we remember the rioting in the summer of 2020, Tim Walz was the guy who let rioters burn down Minneapolis," he said. "And then Kamala Harris was the one who bailed the rioters out of jail," he added." So there's an interesting team in that sense."
As governor, Walz has given free college, healthcare and driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. His record could complicate Harris' efforts to blunt attacks on her role as the "border czar."
“Ensuring drivers in our state are licensed and carry insurance makes the roads safer for all Minnesotans,” Walz said last year, as he signed legislation allowing illegal immigrants to get licenses.
Walz, who came up with the idea of attacking Trump and Vance as "weird," has also made Minnesota a "refuge" for children to undergo sex change surgeries.
"Tim Walz is a weird radical liberal. What could be weirder than signing a bill requiring schools to stock tampons in boys' bathrooms?" Make America Great Again PAC wrote on X. "Or weirder than signing legislation allowing minors to receive sex change operations?"
Walz has spoken favorably of socialism, saying, "one person's socialism is another person's neighborliness" during a recent "White Dudes For Harris" call.
