Left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders has praised Vice President Kamala Harris’s choice of running mate, saying he has passed “some very good legislation.” During a media interview, the Vermont lawmaker said he hoped Harris would choose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz because he “comes from a rural state” and has “been a champion of the working class.”
Some conservative commentators, however, have reacted with fury at the Vice President’s choice, with some insisting that Walz is a radical leftist that supports open borders, and has even praised socialism. Nevertheless, the pick was met with a lot of praise, including from some Republicans.
Anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project and conservative publication The Bulwark also approved of the choice. The Bulwark said Walz’s popularity had grown among younger people for his mockery of JD Vance and his “economic populist pitch.” The newly formed group Republicans for Harris also lauded the Vice President’s decision.
Nevertheless, many Republicans, including Trump’s running mate JD Vance, said Walz was a “dangerously liberal extremist” who had passed laws turning Minnesota into a “trans refuge” state because of his pro-transgender views. Walz also signed a law enshrining abortion rights in the North Star State, as well as universal background checks on gun buyers.
Harris and Walz appeared together for the first time at a rally in Philadelphia, where Mr. Walz thanked the Vice President for bringing “joy” back to politics. Donald Trump, however, suggested the joy would be short-lived. During a media interview, Trump said he was shocked by Harris’s choice, describing Walz as a “very, very liberal man.” Trump said the Minnesota Governor is weak on border security, and would “want to go communist immediately.” The former President declared that he “could not be more thrilled” that Mr. Walz had joined the Democrat ticket.
Additionally, on his Truth Social media account, Mr. Trump claimed that a Harris Presidency would unleash hell on earth by opening America’s borders “to the worst criminals.”
Analysts suggest that the addition of Walz to the ticket presents an opportunity to the Republican Party, which had struggled to find a coherent argument against Harris but can now portray the Democratic ticket as an uber-liberal one.