Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) made his debut as Vice President Kamala Harris‘ running mate with an attempted roast of their Republican opponents, former President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance — and while he got some laughs from the Philadelphia audience, he joined Harris in delivering very little substance.
Governor Josh Shapiro (D-PA) introduced Harris in a wild rant that immediately drew comparisons to the scream that is credited with killing former Governor Howard Dean’s (D-VT) 2004 presidential run.
Josh Shapiro goes FULL Howard Dean. pic.twitter.com/qKm7M2LhGD
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 6, 2024
Harris introduced Walz with a joke, laughing at herself as she claimed that pitting the Minnesota liberal against someone like Vance was like playing the varsity against the JV team.
VP: Tim Walz will be ready on day one. When you compare his resume to Trump’s running mate… some might say it’s like a matchup between the Varsity team and the JV squad pic.twitter.com/rIC4B1JHQn
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 6, 2024
When Walz took over, he tried to keep the jokes flowing, but managed to trip over his own record — and an admitted lie about JD Vance — in the process.
First, Walz claimed that violent crime had been up under Trump and added a jab at the continuing court cases against the former president: “And that’s not even counting the crimes he committed.”
Walz: Make no mistake, violent crime was up under Donald Trump…. That’s not even counting the crimes he committed pic.twitter.com/SIhPdq0DCF
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 6, 2024
But Walz, as a number of critics pointed out earlier that day, was in charge of Minnesota when rioters burned half of Minneapolis to the ground after George Floyd died in police custody — and Harris, for her part, helped raise bail money for the perpetrators.
WATCH BEN SHAPIRO’S ‘SCAMALA: KAMALA HARRIS UNMASKED’ ON DAILYWIRE+
Walz then argued in defense of abortion by claiming that Minnesota stood for the right to privacy: “In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule, mind your own damn business.”
Walz: In Minnesota we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule, mind your own damn business. pic.twitter.com/TRQNlbySlE
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 6, 2024
But it was also Walz, during the COVID pandemic, who called on Minnesotans to rat out their neighbors if they dared to venture outside during quarantine or refuse to put on a face mask.
“Mind your own damn business” says Walz, who literally created a snitch line to tell on people who went outside or didn’t have face masks during COVID.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 6, 2024
Walz went on to say that he’d be happy to debate Vance — “That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up … see what I did there?”
“The JD Vance couch thing is a totally invented and arguably slanderous s***post and I’m gobsmacked that the guy I’ve been hearing all day is Mr. Midwest Decency would pull it out at his introductory rally,” The Bulwark’s Andrew Egger noted.
The JD Vance couch thing is a totally invented and arguably slanderous shitpost and I’m gobsmacked that the guy I’ve been hearing all day is Mr. Midwest Decency would pull it out at his introductory rally https://t.co/5MFJul2sZx
— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) August 6, 2024
Walz’s “joke” referenced a vulgar but debunked X post about Vance and a couch, and got a smile and a raised eyebrow from Harris.
