Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, AP reports.
Walz, an Army veteran and former teacher, has been a leading figure in campaigning for Harris and is credited with calling Trump “weird,” which grew into a wider Democratic messaging strategy. Before serving as the governor of Minnesota, Walz served six terms in the House of Representatives.
Per reporting, Harris interviewed several candidates in the days ahead of her announcement, including figures such as Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
On July 21, President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race after facing weeks of criticism for his debate performance against Republican candidate Donald Trump. Harris swiftly stepped in as the clear front-runner for his replacement; although she has secured enough delegates for the nomination, her bid was not made official until the delegates participate in a “virtual roll call” on Aug. 5.
One remaining question hanging over the 2024 presidential election is when, if at all, Trump and Harris will take the debate stage. On Aug. 3, Trump officially backed out of a previously scheduled Sept. 10 debate on ABC, declaring on his Truth Social platform it had been “terminated” due to Joe Biden’s absence and his ongoing defamation case with ABC and anchor George Stephanopoulos.
The former president called for the debate to be rescheduled to Sept. 4 and moved to Fox News. Harris would respond on X (formally Twitter) to Trump’s remarks the same day, writing, “It’s interesting how ‘any time, any place’ becomes ‘one specific time, one specific safe space.’ I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.”
Since Harris entered the presidential race, many celebrities have rallied in enthusiastic support for the potential first female president-elect, with record-breaking numbers of campaign donations. Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo both made speeches at Harris’ first campaign rally in Atlanta, with the former performing a number of hit tracks.
Source Agencies
