Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz react as they hold a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 6.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz attended a series of caucus meetings on the first day of the Democratic National Convention where he expressed gratitude for their support while praising Vice President Kamala Harris as a visionary leader.
“You might have seen few people are kind of excited across this country for Kamala Harris, what they’ve seen is what you’ve known in Kamala Harris — a deeply kind, visionary, effective leader,” Walz said during the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders caucus meeting.
Walz stops at four different delegate caucus meeting on the morning of the first day of the Democratic convention, and made specific appeals to some of those groups as he rallied their support for Harris.
During remarks to the Black caucus meeting, Walz acknowledged the Democratic Party’s history of putting White politicians at the top of the ticket and asking Black voters for their support.
“A lot of times, this was the history, you can count on the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, and you can count on White politicians coming to Black communities to ask for their votes,” he said, eliciting knowing laughter from the crowd.
“What’s different this time is we have a Black woman going to lead us,” he continued, drawing loud cheers.
At the Native American caucus meeting, Walz highlighted Harris’ previous commitment to honoring tribal sovereignty and his own work in Minnesota to advance native causes, including by selecting Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan to serve alongside him and approving a redesigned Minnesota state flag the removes a depiction of a Native American that Walz called “racist.”
While speaking to the Hispanic caucus, Walz echoed the same message, pledging to acknowledge “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of treatment of Hispanic communities in America.
“It’s all about trying to realize that purely American ideal of a more perfect union. But you know, what great countries do? They acknowledge their history. The good, the bad and the ugly, all of it,” he said. “Because if you can’t acknowledge where you came from, how do you know where you’re going.”
Walz is expected to appear at the LGBTQ+ caucus meeting later today.
