Kamala Harris picks Tim Walz to be her vice presidential running mate
Democrat presidential hopeful Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate.
Vice President Harris has told allies that she has selected the 60-year-old Walz, with The Washington Post citing “two people familiar with the pick” as its sources.
Walz was reportedly preferred due to his status as a military veteran and a gun owner who formerly represented a conservative Republican part of Minnesota while in Congress, WaPo reported.
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Ben Shapiro, a prominent conservative commentator and co-founder of The Daily Wire, took to social media shortly after the news broke to say that the selection would benefit Republicans.
“Picking Walz is a massive gift to the Republicans. He's a radical Leftist from a non-swing state with a long history of insane statements, who presided over the burning down of his state in 2020. Kamala picked him because he's not a Jew,” he tweeted.
Last month, following questions about his mental and physical fitness, President Joe Biden announced that he would not seek reelection, and endorsed Harris to be installed as the Democrat Party's nominee for president.
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made,” Biden stated last month.
“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Since then, Harris has garnered support and endorsements from many prominent Democrat politicians and leaders, among them former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former President Barack Obama.
When it came to selecting a running mate, Reuters reported on Monday that Harris had narrowed her choice down to either Walz or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, with the wire service citing “three sources with knowledge of the matter.”
Harris was expected to make a final choice on a vice presidential running mate by Tuesday, when she was scheduled to make a public appearance at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Harris’ selection of Walz comes after she secured enough delegate votes from the Democrat Party to officially secure the nomination for president months after Biden was selected as the nominee during the primary season.
While many progressives have hailed this accomplishment, some, among them the Black Lives Matter organization, have taken issue with the way in which she clenched the nomination.
“We do not live in a dictatorship,” Black Lives Matter stated last month. “Installing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and an unknown vice president without any public voting process would make the modern Democratic Party a party of hypocrites.”
