How Minnesota’s unassuming governor became Kamala Harris’s choice for VP.
Until recently, Tim Walz was an unlikely candidate for Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential pick. The Minnesota governor, a former geography teacher and congressman, was seen as a moderate figure with a down-to-earth personality, as one colleague put it, “like a guy you’d meet at a backyard barbecue.” Minnesota, not typically a high-profile swing state, offered him a quiet platform rather than a national spotlight.
But in a turn of events, Walz’s appearance on MSNBC on July 23 changed everything. In a viral clip, he labeled Donald Trump and JD Vance as “weird,” critiquing their stances on banning books and intruding into personal lives. “These are weird ideas,” he said, a comment that quickly gained traction on social media with over 5.6 million views. The term “weird” struck a chord, and prominent Democrats, including Kamala Harris herself, soon incorporated it into their speeches.
Within days, Walz’s straightforward criticism had resonated deeply with the Democratic base, earning him a spot as Harris’s running mate and reinvigorating the campaign’s focus on framing GOP policies as out-of-touch.