CHICAGO — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz formally accepted the Democratic vice-presidential nomination on Wednesday, in a night that was designed to introduce him to the country as a teacher and a football coach, a father and a husband, a former congressman and current governor who now could be the nation’s No. 2.
“It’s the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States,” Walz said at the start of a speech aimed at projecting his regular-guy persona in contrast to the Republicans he is running against and has tagged “weird.”
He ticked through his biography: growing up in small-town Nebraska (“I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale”), joining the Army National Guard, and finding an occupation (“I fell in love with teaching”). He mentioned his run for political office, and the fertility treatments he and his wife relied upon: “When our daughter was born, we named her Hope.”
Riffing on a Harris campaign theme, Walz said Democrats and Republicans mean different things when they say “freedom.”
“When we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love,” he said. “Freedom to make your own health-care decisions. And, yeah, your kids. Freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall.”
During the evening he was described as a man who helps neighbors out of snowbanks, a hunter in a deer stand and a dad dressed in plaid. He was also repeatedly described as a football coach, with former players walking onstage in high school uniforms as a pep band played and delegates raised signs that read “Coach Walz.”
“You know, you might not know it, but I haven’t given a lot of big speeches like this,” he said. “But I have given a lot of pep talks.”
The third day of the Democratic National Convention featured reproductive rights as a top issue that the party hopes will motivate voters in November, and later in the evening included boisterous speeches from former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), former president Bill Clinton and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) — and a surprise appearance from Oprah Winfrey. They used GOP nominee and former president Donald Trump’s age against him, and they spoke more pointedly of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. They fixed their attention on GOP vice-presidential nominee JD Vance. And they insisted their ticket is the one focusing on joy and uplifting the nation.
“Let’s cut to the chase. I am too old to gild the lily,” Clinton said, in a thin and raspy voice. “Two days ago I turned 78. … And the only personal vanity I want to assert is I’m still younger than Donald Trump.”
Following nights that were centered around an emotional celebration of President Joe Biden’s record and decision to drop out of the race on Monday, and then an exuberant set of speeches from Michelle and Barack Obama on Tuesday, the lineup on Wednesday at times was more geared at promoting a running mate who has been in the national spotlight for just 15 days.
But while Walz was the headliner of the night, speakers did just as much to promote Harris. And there was a focus on Trump throughout, with several Republicans and a former Trump administration official addressing the convention, and speakers repeatedly ridiculing the Republican nominee.
“Donald Trump is like an old boyfriend who you broke up with, but he just won’t go away,” Jeffries said. “He has spent the last four years spinning the block, trying to get back into a relationship with the American people. Bro, we broke up with you for a reason.”
Clinton, who began the speech thanking Biden and hailing his decision to step aside, seemed to relish lines about Trump, who defeated his wife, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 election.
“In 2024, we have a clear choice: ‘we the people’ versus ‘me, myself and I,’” he said.
“He mostly talks about himself,” Clinton said of Trump. “So the next time you hear him, don’t count the lies. Count the I’s. Count the I’s. His vendettas, his vengeances, his complaints, his conspiracies. He’s like one of those tenors opening up before he walks out onstage … by singing me, me, me, me, me, me. When Kamala Harris is president, every day will begin with you, you, you, you.”
Pelosi contrasted the “new heights” she said would be reached under Harris with one of the country’s darkest days under Trump.
“January 6th was a perilous moment for our democracy,” she said. “Never before had a president of the United States so brazenly assaulted the bedrock of our democracy, so gleefully embraced political violence, so willfully betrayed his oath of office. Let us not forget who assaulted democracy on January 6th. He did. But let us not forget who saved democracy that day. We did.”
On a night focused on Democrats’ new vice-presidential nominee, speakers also launched several attacks on his Republican counterpart.
“At least Mike Pence was polite,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “JD Vance is one of those guys who thinks if you don’t live the life he has in mind for you, then you don’t count.”
He added: “Choosing a guy like JD Vance to be America’s next vice president sends a message. And the message is that they are doubling down on negativity and grievance, committing to a concept of campaigning best summed up in one word: darkness. Darkness is what they are selling. The thing is, I just don’t believe America is in the market for darkness.”
Winfrey hailed Harris as the daughter of two “idealistic, energetic immigrants.” She spoke about the need to protect abortion rights. And she triggered broad applause when she alluded to Vance’s disparaging comment about “childless cat ladies” running the country.
“When a house is on fire, we don’t ask about the homeowner’s race or religion,” she said. “We don’t wonder who their partner is or how they voted — no! We just try to do the best we can to save them. And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady? Well, we try to get that cat out, too.”
John Legend performed ahead of Walz’s speech, and the Minnesota governor was formally nominated for the vice-presidential role by Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota as well as by Ben Ingman, a former student and next-door neighbor of the Walz family.
Biographical videos featured some of his former students sharing how he impacted their lives as a football coach, basketball coach, social studies teacher, set builder for the student play and faculty adviser for the Gay-Straight Alliance.
Another video, focusing on Walz’s military service, featured Iraq War veteran Mike McLaughlin and Al Bonnifield, who served with Walz in the National Guard for nine years. Walz and McLaughlin met when McLaughlin was leaving the Marine Corps and using the GI Bill to go back to school, and worked together to pass the “Forever GI” bill — legislation to expand veterans’ education benefits — when Walz was in Congress.
Ahead of Walz’s speech, Republican lawmakers with military experience attacked his military record in a letter laying out claims that the vice-presidential nominee had inflated his retirement rank and shirked his duty in his 24-year Army National Guard career.
Yet the letter published Wednesday includes signees who have wrongfully claimed retirement ranks and military awards they did not earn.
That includes Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.), who signed the letter with the retirement rank of Navy rear admiral. While Jackson served in and retired at the one-star rank of rear admiral (lower half), a Pentagon inspector general’s report substantiated claims of misconduct when he served as a White House physician. In response, the Navy bumped his retirement rank down to captain in 2022, The Washington Post reported in March. Yet Jackson has since been falsely described by himself and former president Donald Trump as a retired rear admiral.
Walz served as a command sergeant major in the Army National Guard, but he retired as a master sergeant, one rank down, because he did not finish the required coursework. Walz has often referred to himself as a retired command sergeant major, and the Harris campaign amended that language on its website after the scrutiny. Walz retired to pursue politics and left before his unit received its deployment orders, a decision that he says he struggled with and that later became an avenue for Republicans to attack his leadership qualities.
Walz has said that he’s “damn proud” of his time in uniform. Last week, the Harris campaign publicized a letter signed by more than 1,000 veterans and military members commending Walz’s service and advocacy for veterans and military families.
Harris chose Walz after a process that was accelerated because of the shortened window to pick a running mate.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a rising star in the Democratic Party who was one of the keynote speakers on Wednesday night, suggested earlier in the day that the running-mate role might have been his for the taking, even though Walz was the final pick.
“This was a deeply personal decision for the vice president, and we had a really good conversation and she laid out her vision — and in the end it was a deeply personal decision for me, as well,” Shapiro said during a conversation with reporters hosted by Bloomberg News at the convention.
“I’m a year and a half into a job I absolutely love — where I can have a meaningful impact every single day — and where I get to chart my own course, and I’m excited to continue that work for the good people of Pennsylvania,” he added.
Pressed on whether he was implying that the door had been open for him to become Harris’s running mate, Shapiro demurred, saying he wouldn’t divulge their private conversations: “The vice president had a personal decision to make and so did I, and I think this all ended up in the right place.”
Shapiro pushed back on suggestions by Trump and his allies that he wasn’t chosen because of his Jewish faith.
“I want to be really clear about something, because Donald Trump’s been stoking this,” Shapiro said. “Antisemitism played absolutely no role in the dialogue I had with the vice president.”
The evening program also featured a former Trump administration official, part of a continued effort to showcase Republicans who are supporting the Democratic ticket.
Olivia Troye, a former national security official in the Trump administration who has been a vocal critic since 2020, was among the speakers. Geoff Duncan, a Republican and former Georgia lieutenant governor, also spoke, telling the convention hall of Democrats: “Our party acts more like a cult. A cult worshiping a felonious thug.”
Harris did not come to the convention hall during Walz’s remarks but on Thursday is expected to give her speech accepting the nomination.
As Walz wrapped up his speech on Wednesday night, he again alluded to his brief time in the national spotlight and his years as a football coach.
“So let me finish with this, team. It’s the fourth quarter,” he said. “We’re down a field goal, but we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball. We’re driving down the field. And, boy, do we have the right team. Kamala Harris is tough. Kamala Harris is experienced. And Kamala Harris is ready.”
Dylan Wells, Maeve Reston, Maegan Vazquez and Alex Horton contributed to this report.
