Walz makes first solo campaign stop in speech to influential union
Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made his first solo campaign stop in California, delivering a speech in front of one of the country’s most prominent unions.
“The vice president and I, we know exactly who built this country. It was nurses, it was teachers, and it was state and local government employees that built this nation. People in this room, built the middle class,” Walz said in a speech in front of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the country’s strongest public sector unions.
The stop marked Walz’s first on his own since being tapped to join Harris on the Democratic ticket, with the duo mostly hitting the road together since the announcement last month.
Walz touted his pro-union credentials, recalling his time as a “due-paying” member of a teacher’s union and his record as governor that made it easier for workers to collectively bargain.
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
“Here’s a fact they shared with me as I came here to make this opportunity to say thank you… I happen to be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan,” Walz said. “But rest assured, I won’t lose my way.”
While a stop in deep-blue California might not be seen as an important one on the trail, AFSCME members from all over the country were there to meet and later hear from the country’s potential future vice president.
The union, which according to NPR boasts 1.5 million members of mostly state and local government employees, represents a powerful demographic for the Harris campaign to attempt to solidify support.
Walz has brought a Midwest and blue collar vibe to the campaign, touting Harris’ working class credentials since joining the vice president on the trail.
“It’s very simple – she stands on the side of the American people and the American worker,” Walz said during a rally in Michigan last week.
While most unions have traditionally supported Democratic candidates, former President Donald Trump has attempted to make inroads with the country’s blue-collar workers and union members, most notably in Rust Belt swing states that will decide the election.
The former president has continued to attempt to make his case to the country’s workers throughout the campaign, targeting hospitality workers by promising to push through a bill that would eliminate taxes on tips.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) and Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz gesture during a campaign rally at the Thomas and Mack Center, University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 10, 2024. (RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Harris, meanwhile, attempted to chase the same voters by making a similar vow last week, while the Harris-Walz ticket has earned the endorsement of the hospitality union UNITE HERE.
“It’s sad that union bosses continue to be puppets for the Democrat Party and are completely out of touch with the workers they are supposed to represent,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in response to that news.
The Trump campaign’s attempt to appeal to working class voters was also evident in the former president’s selection of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as running mate, who has made a broader pitch to Rust Belt workers to get behind the Republican ticket.
“In small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania, or in Michigan, in states all across our country, jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war,” Vance said in his speech at the Republican National Convention.
“To the people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and every corner of our nation, I promise you this,” he continued. “I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from.”
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Meanwhile, cracks in the Democratic Party’s relationship with unions have started to appear, most notably when Teamsters President Sean O’Brien became the first leader of his organization to speak at the Republican National Convention and offer rare openness to support for Republican candidates.
“We are not beholden to anyone or any party,” O’Brien said. “We want to know one thing: What are you doing to help American workers?”
Nevertheless, Walz expressed optimism that American workers would ultimately take his and Harris’ side in November.
“The only thing those two guys know about working people is how to take advantage of them,” he said, referring to Trump and Vance. “Every chance they’ve gotten, they’ve waged war on workers and their ability to collectively bargain, to take that away from them.”
