Tim Walz, who was chosen Tuesday as the number two candidate for US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, was a teacher before he began his political life, which led him to become governor of Minnesota.
While the 60-year-old has not gained much recognition outside his home state of Minnesota, he has distinguished himself in recent weeks with his repeated barbs at Donald Trump and his team, which he describes as a group of “strange guys.”
“We are not afraid of strangers,” the governor assured in a friendly tone and rapid speech at a pre-election meeting.
“Trust me from my experience as a teacher, bullies have no power,” Walz explained.
Walz was born in Nebraska and spent many years teaching, primarily as a geography teacher and American football coach who taught for several months in China shortly after the Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989.
“The fact that I was able to attend a Chinese high school at that crucial moment seemed important to me,” he admitted years later to the North American congressional committee where he served for 12 years.
When rumors first surfaced that he was running as Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate, some internet users questioned whether the duo were really the same age, accompanying their posts with a photo of a bald Tim Walz.
In January 2019, Tim Walz became governor of Minnesota, a Great Lakes state bordering Canada.
Nearly a year later, he has had to deal with two major crises: the Covid-19 pandemic and the death of African American George Floyd, who was suffocated in police custody.
The episode made Minneapolis, Minnesota’s largest city, the epicenter of a huge movement of anti-racist demonstrations that shook America for months.
Republicans accuse the governor of being too lax in his approach to fighting crime, while Democrats, on the contrary, praise his achievements in protecting abortion rights.
Following the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision that struck down constitutional protections for abortion, Tim Walz has committed to making his state a safe haven for women seeking abortions.
A clinic in the neighboring state of North Dakota, which is much more repressive on this issue, has moved to her side of the border.
In March 2024, Walz participated in the vice president’s first trip to an abortion clinic with Kamala Harris, with whom he now hopes to enter the White House.
Walz is the Democratic nominee for vice president, the choice of Kamala Harris, who will lead the ticket, the AP news agency reported, citing three sources close to the nomination, among other sources.
The governor was one of three Democratic politicians Kamala Harris focused on in her running mate search, the others being Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
Walz will be introduced Tuesday at a rally in Pennsylvania that will kick off Kamala Harris’ tour of seven key states in the November 5 U.S. presidential election, the AP reported.
The Democratic Party has already officially nominated Kamala Harris as its candidate to replace Joe Biden in the presidential election, where he will face Republican Donald Trump.
Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, becomes the first black woman to be nominated as a presidential candidate by one of the two parties that have dominated United States of America (US) politics since the country’s founding in 1776.
During the convention in Chicago, which runs from August 19 to 22, there will be a ceremonial roll call in honor of the nomination, mimicking the celebratory style of previous nominations.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.