Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, addresses supporters in Asheville, NC (Screengrab from C-SPAN video stream)
Six days after Kamala Harris drew large, enthusiastic crowds in Charlotte and Greensboro, Governor Tim Walz brought the campaign to Asheville in hopes of keeping the momentum high in the final 49 days of the 2024 presidential campaign.
The Democratic nominee for vice president told the audience while many people were impressed by Harris’ debate performance over Donald Trump, they should not be surprised that a woman who was an attorney general of the largest state in the country, a United States senator, and vice president of the United States was prepared for this moment in history.
“But Kamala Harris isn’t talking about the historic nature of this, she just puts her nose down and does the work,” said Walz. “As we say in the army, she stays in her lane every single day.”
Walz said while Trump focused on grievances during last week’s 90-minute debate, Harris remained focused on how she would help working families.
“If you’re hoping to buy a home someday, which all of us want to, she’s going to help make it more affordable. If you’re getting squeezed on grocery prices, prescription drugs, she’s going to make sure we take on the price-gougers and big pharma. And if you have an idea, you want to start your own small business, she’s going to make sure that the tax credit on that we cut through the red tape, give you help on the front end to let you achieve the dream that you want to,” Walz pledged.
The Minnesota governor said the campaign has made Beyoncé’s Freedom a central theme song for Harris because freedom is fundamental.
“Republicans used to talk the same way about freedoms. They used to really believe it. Not these guys. Now when they talk about it, government should be free [to] invade your doctor’s office, make decisions for you, invade your bedroom, tell you who you should love, invade your school library,” said Walz.
Walz said that a Trump-Vance administration would most certainly create a new government entity that will monitor all pregnancies to enforce state abortion bans.
On the issue of the Second Amendment, Walz reminded the crowd that he was a veteran, a hunter, and a gun owner who took time to meet with parents of children lost in the Sandy Hook school shooting .
“Just last week, JD Vance told us [school shootings were] just ‘a fact of life .’ These are the people who are spending all their time trying to ban books from our schools, but they can’t spend a minute banning assault weapons from our schools.”
Vance will make a campaign appearance in Raleigh on Wednesday ahead of Trump’s visit to Wilmington on Saturday.
Harris’s running mate told the crowd this campaign was personal, and it was going to be very close.
Then he invited conservative voters to have the courage to walk away from Trump.
“This is not theoretical, you’re not rooting for your team, you’re not like, ‘Oh, I’m on the Red Hat team, I’m going to stick with them no matter how bad they are.’ Ditch them! Ditch them if they start doing bad.”
On National Voter Registration Day, Walz concluded by urging North Carolinians to have one more conversation with a friend or neighbor, convince one more person to vote this fall.
“We can chart a new way forward,” said Walz. “But my God, what a privilege to fight for democracy.”
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