The Guardian

Harris and Walz rally in Wisconsin after Vance holds competing event nearby – live

By Maya Yang (now); Fran Lawther and Lili Bayer (earlier),

1 day ago

8.50pm BST

“It can’t be said seriously enough, so much is on the line and compounded with everything else that we knew was on the line,” said Kamala Harris.

“Donald Trump has openly vowed, if re-elected, he will be a dictator on day one, that he would weaponize the department of justice against his political enemies, that he would round up peaceful protesters and throw them out of our country, and even quote, terminate the United States constitution.

Let us be clear, someone who suggests we should terminate the constitution of the United States should never again have a chance to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States.”

8.43pm BST

Harris: 'We are joyful warriors'

“We are joyful warriors,” Kamala Harris said, in apparent reference to Tim Walz’s comment yesterday that she has brought “joy” back to the campaign trail.

She added:

“Because we know that while fighting for a brighter future may be hard work, hard work is good work…

We believe in a future where we lower the cost of living for America’s families so that they have a chance, not just to get by, but to get ahead. Because while our economy is doing well by many measures, prices for everyday things like groceries, are still too high. You know it, and I know it.”

8.31pm BST

Kamala Harris has now taken the stage.

Wearing a white shirt and tan pants, Harris waved excitedly to a crowd of cheering supporters, many of whom are waving “Harris Walz” signs.

Updated at 8.34pm BST

8.30pm BST

“One of the best parts of this job is going to be, I can’t wait till the debate,” Tim Walz said in response to loud cheers from the crowd.

He added:

“So look, I’ve done this enough and I know bullies and I’m not a name caller, but what I am is a teacher, I observe things. So I want to tell you what I observed, and you’ve observed … about these guys, when you see them, that it’s a very clear thing. Yes, they are creepy and weird as hell. You see it. You see it. This is not normal. This is not normal behavior.”

Updated at 8.35pm BST

8.28pm BST

Walz: 'We settle our political differences not through violence but through our votes'

“We settle our political differences not through violence but through our votes,” said Tim Walz.

He added:

“The question is pretty simple. This election is all about asking that question, which direction will this country go in? Donald Trump knows the direction he wants to take it. He wants to take us back. He wants to do the things that he saw. But be very clear.

Don’t believe him when he plays dumb. He knows exactly what he’s talking about. He knows exactly what Project 2025 will do in restricting and taking our freedoms. He knows that it rigs the economy for the super rich if he gets a chance to go back to the White House. It will be far worse than it was four years ago.”

8.26pm BST

“We’re pretty neighborly with Wisconsin. We did our friendly battles in Minnesota, just like in Wisconsin. We respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make, even if we wouldn’t make the same choices for ourselves, because we know there’s a golden rule, mind your own damn business. Mind your own damn business,” said Tim Walz.

“I don’t need you telling me about our healthcare. I don’t need you telling us who we love, and I sure the hell don’t need you telling us what books we’re going to read,” he added.

At one point, someone in the crowd appeared to cry out from the heat, to which Walz responded, “Can we get somebody to help? Somebody’s hot, somebody’s hot … Drink some water folks, it is hot out.”

The individual appeared to have swiftly been help, with Walz saying, “Thank you all for helping … We all take care of one another. This is is why we gather. Look, it’s hot. It is hot … But I have to tell you all again, in all seriousness, to come and gather like this, to talk about our freedoms, the ability to talk about what could be good, and I have to say, this idea of caring for our neighbors … and to be able to be there when you need it. It’s not about mocking.”

Updated at 8.37pm BST

8.20pm BST

“We don’t shy away from challenges, but I’ll tell you what: Donald Trump, he sees the world differently than we see it,” said Tim Walz.

“He has no understanding of service because he’s too busy servicing himself … This guy weakens our country to strengthen his own hands. He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division among the people and that’s to say nothing of the job he did as president,” he added.

Updated at 8.22pm BST

8.18pm BST

Tim Walz has taken the stage in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Walz is in Wisconsin alongside Kamala Harris as part of their campaign blitz across seven states in five days.

Walz opened up by talking about his military, teaching and coaching background, saying, “My mom and dad taught me to show generosity to my neighbors and work for a common good.”

8.04pm BST

Describing himself and Donald Trump amid Democrats including Tim Walz calling GOP leaders “weird”, JD Vance said:

“I think that what makes Donald Trump and I good candidates and a good team … is that we’re normal guys who want to make this country great again, and we want Americans to be able to live the American dream …
And what’s going to happen is the American people aren’t going to care about it because they don’t care about some tagline written by a social media intern. They care about which president and which vice-president is going to make their country better and their lives more safe and more secure. Donald Trump and I are proud to carry that message forward for the next 93 days.”

Updated at 8.23pm BST

7.59pm BST

In response to a question on whether he thinks it matters that Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz, JD Vance replied:

“What does Kamala Harris’s selection of Tim Walz say about her? Well, I think it says one, she’s leaning into the defund the police radicalism of the last few years. Two, she’s leaning into the open borders policies of last year … And then the final point that I’d say is it says that she bent the knee to the Hamas caucus of the Democrat party.”

JD Vance, who earlier today said that he was “not bothered at all” by Donald Trump’s attacks on Harris’s biracial identity, went on to repeat the Republican attack line that Harris skipped Josh Shapiro as her running mate because of his Jewish identity.

He said:

“The amount of rage that you heard from the far left saying Kamala Harris can’t pick this guy because he’s Jewish is disgraceful. I want my kids to grow up in a country where they can be whatever they want to be, and people aren’t attacking them for their ethnic heritage … It’s not just what these people said about Shapiro. It’s the way that the Harris administration and the Harris campaign refused to push back against it. I think it’s a real scandal.”

Updated at 8.01pm BST

7.44pm BST

JD Vance is going to take questions from the media at his event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, when he wraps up his remarks at his Republican campaign event at Wollard International, an aviation ground equipment manufacturer.

Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 election has been speaking about the smuggling of fentanyl across the US-Mexico border and blaming the Biden administration’s immigration policies for a lack of security to curb the trade.

He also spoke to his background where his mother is now in recovery from the opioid addiction that affected his whole childhood. He blamed Kamala Harris for not securing the border toughly enough.

And he also slammed high inflation.

“Every single thing that Americans need to buy … has become more expensive because of Kamala Harris,” he said, of the woman now at the top of the Democratic ticket in the presidential election.

From the looks on the faces of the workers arranged behind Vance as he’s speaking, they are not electrified by his remarks.

Updated at 7.51pm BST

7.37pm BST

JD Vance has now taken the podium at his event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Donald Trump’s running mate just joked about his flight landing around the same time as Kamala Harris ’s.

He joked that Air Force Two would soon be his to occupy.

He also said Harris “should be ashamed of herself” for not doing any interviews with reporters since she took over the top of the Democratic ticket for the presidential election.

Updated at 7.42pm BST

7.32pm BST

Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz , are about to speak at an open-air rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

We’ll bring you the news from that event, where they are currently playing Bob Marley’s Sun Is Shining to the crowd. Those waiting at the rival JD Vance event heard James Brown’s It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World. Signaling much?

The pool of reporters traveling with the US vice-president reported that the disembarkation from Air Force Two in Wisconsin was a bit delayed.

“JD Vance’s plane could be seen taxiing in the distance shortly after we landed.”

Here’s a clip:

Updated at 7.43pm BST

7.23pm BST

While live political events are running late, here is some fresh news about the right-wing playbook Project 2025, via the Associated Press.

As Project 2025 hits turmoil, the head of the influential, far-right Heritage Foundation is postponing the release of his potentially fiery new book until after the November presidential election, the AP reports.

Kevin Roberts , who took over Project 2025 as part of a leadership shake-up amid blowback over its recommendations for a potential Donald Trump White House, said Wednesday he is focused on defeating presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris .

Trump’s running mate JD Vancepenned the forward to Roberts’ book.

There’s a time for writing, reading, and book tours — and a time to put down the books and go fight like hell to take back our country. That’s why I’ve chosen to move my book’s publication and promotion to after the election,” said Roberts, the president of Heritage Action who has been mentioned as a potential chief of staff in a Trump White House, in a statement.

The Real Clear Politics news site first reported the decision.

Orchestrated by Heritage, Project 2025 is an ultra-conservative blueprint for the next Republican White House, with startling proposals that include firing large swaths of the federal government workforce and disassembling longstanding agencies, including the Justice Department. Trump has said the outside group doesn’t speak for his campaign, but many of his most trusted former White House officials are architects of the plan and are preparing for a second Trump administration.

Read the Guardian’s Rachel Leingang on Project 2025 .

7.06pm BST

At the location in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance is about to speak, they’re playing one of Donald Trump ’s favorite songs over the speakers, Village People’s YMCA.

It’s a song the former president likes to get spinning on the decks at his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, too.

At the same time the White House media briefing is due, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre , for an interesting split screen with the campaign trail in the midwest.

Both are running late. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are due to speak at another location in Eau Claire before the half-hour.

Vance will be speaking at Wollard International, an aviation ground equipment manufacturer.

Updated at 7.17pm BST

6.48pm BST

Here is another video of the crowd waiting in anticipation of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where the duo is set to take the stage at around 2 .30pm ET:

Updated at 7.10pm BST

6.25pm BST

Long lines in Wisconsin for Harris-Walz event as JD Vance to hold rival rally

Long lines are forming in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, before Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s much -anticipated rally, according to photos and videos posted on social media:

Spectators were seen waiting for Harris and Walz to appear:

JD Vance is also set to hold a rally in Eau Claire around the same time as Harris as Walz – and will be hoping for good turnout.

Video posted on social media appeared to show a much thinner crowd during his earlier campaign stop in Shelby Township, Michigan.

Updated at 7.08pm BST

5.58pm BST

Barack Obama: Tim Walz has 'values and the integrity to make us proud'

In an endorsement post on X, Barack Obama wrote of Tim Walz:

“Governor Walz doesn’t just have the experience to be vice president, he has the values and the integrity to make us proud. And as we saw last night, @KamalaHarris and @Tim_Walz make a great team.
Now let’s do everything we can – volunteer, donate, organize – from now until November to help them get elected.”

5.30pm BST

JD Vance, who served as a combat correspondent for four years from 2003 to 2007 during the Iraq war, attacked Tim Walz’s military record, which included a 24-year run with the a rmy n ational g uard before his retirement in 2005 as a command sergeant major.

Speaking at a campaign event in Michigan, Vance said:

“I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went into Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone. What’s bothers me about Tim Walz is this stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not.
And if he wants to criticise me for getting an Ivy League education, I’m proud of the fact that my mamaw supported me, that I was able to make something of myself, I’d be ashamed if I was him and I lied about my military service like he did.”

In 2018, Walz said in an interview, “I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that … I willingly say that I got far more out of the military than they got out of me, from the GI bill to leadership opportunities to everything else.”

During his attack against Walz, JD Vance avoided mentioning Donald Trump’s avoidance of the Vietnam draft (which according to a podiatrist in Queens who rented his office from Donald Trump’s father, was due to timely bone spurs in Trump’s heels).

Updated at 5.39pm BST

5.05pm BST

During his campaign, JD Vance doubled down on the Republican accusation that Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro because of his Jewish identity.

A reporter asked:

“You have repeatedly suggested that the only reason Kamala Harris didn’t pick Josh Shapiro is because of his Jewish faith. Do you have any evidence to support that assertion that a person who is married to a Jewish man is somehow antisemitic or bowing to antisemites?”

In response, JD Vance said:

“Well I reject the premise of the question. I did not say that was the only reason that Kamala Harris didn’t choose Josh Shapiro so you should take a little less DNC talking points when you ask your question and ask a real question.”

Following Harris’s pick of Walz as her running mate, JD Vance told Fox News on Tuesday that by choosing Walz, Harris “bent the knee to the far-left”, adding, “This decision, selecting Tim Walz, is another sign that she doesn’t care what the American people think. She is only in this to obey the far-left radicals within her own party. It’s a really shameful moment for Kamala Harris.”

Shapiro has been a vocal supporter of Israel amid its war on Gaza which has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians since Hamas’s 7 October attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis.

During the anti-war student protests across US college campuses, Shapiro appeared to compare the student demonstrators to the KKK, saying , “We have to query whether or not we would tolerate this if this were people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia.”

Shapiro, who says his views have changed, has also once written that “peace will never come” to the Middle East, describing Palestinians as “battle-minded”.

Since Walz’s pick as Harris’s running mate, reports have emerged that Shapiro appeared circumspect about the vice presidency position during the final selection process, with various sources familiar with the matter saying that he had numerous questions about the role and his responsibilities.

Updated at 5.32pm BST

4.38pm BST

JD Vance continued to stick to Donald Trump and Republicans’ attack line questioning Kamala Harris’s biracial identity, saying:

“Donald Trump said something very simple, totally inoffensive but frankly obviously true to me which is that Kamala Harris is a chameleon. She’s a fake …”

In response to a question from a reporter who asked, “How can you fake your race?”, JD Vance replied:

“She fakes who she is depending on the audience that she’s in front of and that’s who she is and that’s who she’s always been.”

Updated at 4.53pm BST

4.17pm BST

JD Vance on Trump's attacks on Harris's racial identity: 'I was not bothered at all'

During his campaign in Shelby Township, Michigan, JD Vance defended Donald Trump’s attacks on Kamala Harris’s biracial identity, saying that he saw no problem with the former president’s comments at the NABJ conference last week where he said Harris “happened to turn Black ”.

In response to a question on how he would explain Trump’s attacks, JD Vance, who is married to Usha Vance, an Indian American lawyer, and has biracial children, said:

“I was not bothered at all by what President Trump said I didn’t take it as an attack on Kamala Harris’s biracial background at all.
What I took it as was an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon. She pretends to be one thing when she’s in front of one audience, she pretends to be something else when she’s in front of another audience and I think he was observing the basic foundational reality that Kamala Harris pretends to be something different, depending on which audience she’s speaking to.”

Updated at 4.19pm BST

4.09pm BST

In response to #TamponTim, a trending and apparently mocking hashtag online that takes aim at Tim Walz and his efforts to provide menstrual products to all students, including transgender students, Hillary Clinton defended the progressive Minnesota governor.

Writing on X, Clinton said:

“How nice of the Trump camp to help publicize Gov. Tim Walz’s compassionate and common-sense policy of providing free menstrual products to students in Minnesota public schools! Let’s do this everywhere.”

3.36pm BST

Tim Walz does not own any stocks, according to financial disclosures reviewed by Axios and confirmed by a spokesperson.

In Axios’s business editor Dan Primack’s newsletter, Primack reports that Walz’s disclosures also do not indicate any mutual funds, bonds, private equities or other securities.

Kamala Harris’s vice-president pick also does not have any book deals, speaking fees or crypto or racehorse interests, Primack reports, adding that Walz does not also own any real estate.

According to the report, the Walzes’ only investment assets appear to be from state pensions.

Updated at 3.47pm BST

3.17pm BST

In a new post on X, Kamala Harris said that with Tim Walz by her side, “Let us fight for the promise of America’s future.”

The duo is set to campaign in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Detroit, Michigan, today as part of their campaign blitz across seven states in five days.

Updated at 3.32pm BST

2.57pm BST

'I could not be more thrilled': Trump reacts to Harris's VP pick

Here is video of Donald Trump describing his shock at Kamala Harris’s vice-president pick, Tim Walz:

Speaking to Fox News, Trump said he “could not be more thrilled”.

Martin Pengelly reported further on Trump’s Fox News interview for the Guardian, writing earlier this morning:

“Trump also claimed to have saved Walz from ‘thousands’ of pro-Trump protesters with ‘the American flags and the Maga flags’ who Trump said ‘surrounded’ Walz’s house in summer 2020, when Minnesota saw protests and rioting prompted by the police murder of George Floyd.”

Updated at 4.22pm BST

2.37pm BST

In the days leading up to Kamala Harris’s final selection of her vice-president, three finalists were presented to her by her campaign team: Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly and Tim Walz, the New York Times reports.

Among the questioners who interviewed the finalists were Marty Walsh, Joe Biden’s labor secretary, Cedric Richmond, a campaign co-chair, Tony West, Harris’s brother-in-law, Dana Remus, a former White House counsel, and Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada senator.

According to the report, “Mr. Shapiro had privately appeared more circumspect about the vice presidency, according to multiple people familiar with the selection process, asking about his role and responsibilities.

“Mr. Shapiro, 51, is widely seen as harboring his own presidential ambitions, which could have complicated any relationship where his chief job would be to serve as a dutiful No. 2,” the Times added.

Meanwhile, the impression Walz gave off the Harris was “joyful” and “willing to do anything for the team”.

According to a source speaking to the Times anonymously, Harris said, “He’s just so open,” adding, “I really like him.” Additionally, Walz reportedly explicitly told Harris to not pick him if he could not help her win in November.

Updated at 2.41pm BST

2.10pm BST

The Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign has rolled out its newest merchandise: the Harris-Walz camo hat which it described as the “most iconic political hat in America ”.

The embroidered hat with the orange words is described on the website as “America made, union made” and sells for $40.

The hat appears to pay homage to Missouri-born popstar Chappell Roan’s own tour merchandise collection which also features a camo hat with the orange words, “Midwest Princess”.

Following the release of the Harris-Walz hat, Roan herself took notice of the resemblance, writing on X, “Is this real?”

Updated at 2.15pm BST

1.53pm BST

More from Donald Trump’s friendly Fox & Friends phoner , in which the former president and current Republican nominee took softball questions from the hosts on the cream couch and from a small crowd in Sturgis, South Dakota, who turned out before dawn to cheer him:

On Tim Walz’s charge that Trump is not fighting for “kitchen-table issues”: Walz said so during his rally with Kamala Harris in Philadelphia yesterday, saying Trump was “sat at his country club in Mar-a-Lago wondering how he can cut taxes for his rich friends”. On Fox, Trump answered by rambling about his “unbelievable business, one of the greatest businesses, I built a business that is phenomenal”. The Trump Organization has certainly generated a phenomenal number of legal problems of late, not least a multi-hundred-million-dollar fine and other penalties for business fraud and a jail term for its chief financial officer .
On what he will do for the economy on day one of a second term: “The first thing we’re going to do is we’re going to ‘drill baby drill’ and then number two, and I can do lots of things in the first day, it’s not one thing or two things or four things, we’re going to do lots of things on the first day, but we’re going to close up the border. We’ll let people come in but they have to come in legally.” Notably, Trump has said he wants to be a “ dictator ” on his first day back in office.
On surviving an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania last month, and on news of another plot to kill him : “I’m in a very dangerous business. Being president is a dangerous thing. And especially when you’re an active president, when you are somebody that wants to make our country secure, when you want to build a strong military, we built, I rebuilt our entire military, and we gave a lot of it away to Afghanistan, which is, like, shocking, that was by the way the Afghanistan when we showed that gross incompetence in Afghanistan, I was getting out but we’re getting out with tremendous dignity and strength, we were the boss and … [and much more on Afghanistan, Ukraine – “I can go into Ukraine”, Iran and Hamas.]
On the media “honeymoon” period for Harris and whether it “must drive you crazy”: “It does.”

Updated at 1.59pm BST

1.41pm BST

Usha Vance has come to her husband JD Vance’s defense after his comments on “childish cat ladies” running the country surfaced in recent weeks.

In an interview with Fox News, Usha Vance responded to a question on what she would say to people who were offended by JD Vance’s comment, saying:

“JD absolutely, at the time and today, would never, ever, ever want to say something to hurt someone who was trying to have a family, who really ... was struggling with that…
And I also understand there are a lot of other reasons why people may choose not to have families and many of those reasons are very good.”

Usha Vance’s comments have been paraphrased by Vanity Fair as, “My husband only meant to insult people who actively choose not to have kids, not people who are trying but are unsuccessful” in a new headline .

She also did not mention her husband’s other attacks in which he called people without children “sociopathic”, “psychotic” and “deranged”.

For more on Usha Vance’s defense of her husband’s words – which she described as a “quip”, click here:

Updated at 1.51pm BST

1.27pm BST

Trump compares Walz to Sanders and teases Harris debate news

Donald Trump called into Fox & Friends this morning, for half an hour of softball questions teeing up invective about Kamala Harris, Tim Walz , Democrats’ supposed antisemitism and other matters. Here are some of the highlights …

On Tim Walz for vice-president : Trump said he was surprised Harris picked the Minnesota governor, who he predictably slammed for being extremely progressive, repeatedly comparing him to Bernie Sanders . Trump also claimed to have saved Walz from “thousands” of pro-Trump protesters with “the American flags and the Maga flags” who Trump said “surrounded” Walz’s house in summer 2020, when Minnesota saw protests and rioting prompted by the police murder of George Floyd. Trump said Walz asked him to “put out the word that I’m a good person”, so Trump did and the crowd went home. “And he called me back and he thanked me very much, that’s my only thing I’ve ever had to deal with him,” said Trump, who in 2019, as president, appointed Walz to the bipartisan Council of Governors.
On Josh Shapiro missing out: Trump said he was “no big fan” of the Pennsylvania governor but “would have said it would have been a better choice” for Harris to pick him. Claiming to be leading in Pennsylvania – contestable, at least – Trump also agreed with his hosts that antisemitism, stoked by Shapiro’s positions on Israel and Gaza, played a role in Shapiro missing out. “I think that any Jewish person who votes for a Democrat … should have their head examined,” said Trump – a man whose own alleged antisemitic remarks memorably include the contention, “The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day. Those are the kind of people I want counting my money. No one else.” Trump also claimed, in the same answer, to be in with a chance of winning New York. Polling there shows Harris pulling clear.
On whether he will debate Harris: Trump fringed close to making news when he said: “We’ll be debating I guess in the pretty near future, it’s going to be announced fairly soon, but we’ll be debating her.” Trump had agreed a second debate with Joe Biden on ABC News but has said he will only debate on Fox News . Harris says it has to be ABC. “I would like to say my preference would be Fox but we have to debate,” Trump said, adding: “I think debates are very important as they should be exposed just like Biden was exposed.” It’s true Biden’s catastrophic debate display against Trump in June hastened the end of the president’s candidacy for re-election. But Harris – who Trump complained the media wanted to “build up into the next Margaret Thatcher, liberal version” – would be a very different opponent.

More follows…

Updated at 1.33pm BST

12.52pm BST

Trump attacks Harris and Walz, claiming they want to make US a communist country

Donald Trump has attacked Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in an interview with Fox and Friends on Wednesday morning.

The former president trotted out familiar attack lines, trying to paint his Democratic opponent as “communist” and out of touch with American voters.

During a phone-in interview, Trump claimed: “This is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately if not sooner.”

He went on to disparage Walz’s record on protecting gender-affirming care in Minnesota while suggesting Harris not choosing Josh Shapiro was “very insulting to Jewish people”.

12.35pm BST

Analysis: why Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz

Walz emerged as Harris’s pick after a search lasting two weeks that saw the vice-president also consider a group that included the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro , and Arizona senator Mark Kelly . The choice of Walz drew praise from across the Democratic party’s ideological spectrum.

The progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Harris made an “excellent decision”, while Joe Manchin, the West Virginia senator who recently left the party and is best known for hamstringing Biden’s proposals to fight child poverty and more aggressively combat climate change, said: “I can think of no one better than Governor Walz to help bring our country closer together and bring balance back to the Democratic party.”

Republicans responded to Walz’s selection by posting on social media images of the protests the rocked Minneapolis four years ago after George Floyd’s murder, reminders of the governor’s support for a law allowing undocumented migrants to obtain driver’s licenses, plus a massive Covid relief scandal that took place during his administration.

Now in his second term as governor, the former congressman and high school teacher brings to the ticket a record of progressive policymaking, a somewhat sympathetic view towards pro-Palestine protesters, and a distinctly Minnesotan style of communication the campaign could use in its efforts to win the nearby swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Here’s the full analysis from my colleague Chris Stein:

12.29pm BST

Our Revolution, a grassroots US progressive political organization founded by Bernie Sanders , condemned the outcome of Cori Bush’s Democratic primary.

Joseph Geevarghese , spokesperson for the group, said Democratic party leaders failed to support Bush against a “barrage of racist attacks and millions of dollars” being spent to unseat her.

Geevarghese said in a statement: “Cori Bush had the moral courage to speak out against her constituents’ taxpayer dollars funding war crimes in Gaza. As a result, Aipac and its Maga Republican-funded super Pac spent more than $8.4m to buy her congressional seat.

“Democratic party elites have spent years decrying Trump as an existential threat to democracy, yet they are resoundingly silent when wealthy conservative donors unseat a true working-class champion who was among the first federal lawmakers to endorse Kamala Harris in her historic candidacy for president.”

Updated at 12.34pm BST

12.17pm BST

Progressive congresswoman Cori Bush loses primary after pro-Israel campaign against her

The other big news late on Wednesday was congresswoman Cori Bush losing her Democratic primary after pro-Israel pressure groups spent millions of dollars to unseat her over criticisms of Israel’s war on Gaza .

St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Missouri’s first Black female member of Congress with about 51% of the vote. Bush, a member of the progressive “Squad”, took about 46%.

Bell’s win marks a second major victory for the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) after it played a leading role in unseating New York congressman Jamaal Bowman, another progressive Democrat who criticized the scale of Palestinian civilians deaths in Gaza, in a June primary.

Aipac pumped $8.5m into the race in Missouri’s first congressional district to support Bell through its campaign funding arm, the United Democracy Project (UDP), after Bush angered some pro-Israel groups as one of the first members of Congress to call for a ceasefire after the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel .

Updated at 12.18pm BST

12.07pm BST

Kamala Harris is drawing more support from Black voters than Joe Biden did, while Donald Trump’s support among white voters has risen somewhat in recent months, according to an analysis of Reuters/Ipsos polling.

The analysis, which examined more than 10,000 responses from seven nationwide Reuters/Ipsos polls conducted since May, says about 70% of Black voters polled in July picked Harris over Trump on a hypothetical ballot, up from 59% who backed Biden in May and June polls. Trump’s share of the Black vote rose marginally to 12% in July from 9% in May and June.

Trump, meanwhile, is seeing increased support from white voters. Some 50% picked Trump in July polls, up from 46% in May and June. Harris had the support of 38% of white voters in July, compared to 36% in May and June.

The race remains essentially tied, with Harris and Trump each getting 43% support in an aggregate of last month’s polls. Biden and Trump each had 40% in the polls conducted in the previous two months.

The analysis examined poll responses gathered throughout July on a hypothetical Harris-Trump contest and included responses from before Biden, 81, ended his bid. All responses on Harris, however, were gathered after Biden’s 27 June debate against Trump, when the president’s faltering performance led Democrats to call on him to end his campaign.

White voters make up the biggest racial bloc, accounting for 72% of all voters in the 2020 election, according to the Pew Research Center, though their share of the electorate has dropped sharply in recent decades.

African Americans accounted for only 11% of voters that year. But they are a critical component of the Democratic Party’s coalition and could play an outsized role in this year’s election.

Black voters in Georgia, for example, propelled Biden to victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election. But a surge in the cost of living and what they see as a lack of progress on racial justice issues has prompted disillusionment in some quarters.

11.56am BST

Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, was meant to campaign in North Carolina on Wednesday.

But severe weather forced the campaign to cancel the events in Raleigh and Oakboro.

Heavy rain was forecast as Tropical Storm Debby pushes into the state. The Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, declared a state of emergency on Monday.

Updated at 12.06pm BST

11.43am BST

After Wisconsin, Harris and Walz fly off to Michigan, for an evening rally at Wayne county airport.

They will be joined by Democratic party officials, several congressmen and women as well as Detroit mayor Mike Duggan , senator Debbie Stabenow , and governor Gretchen Whitmer .

Shawn Fain , the influential president of the United Autoworkers Union, will be there too, after his union endorsed Harris last week. Harris and Walz are expected to speak at 7pm ET.

11.35am BST

Harris and Walz to head to Wisconsin and Michigan

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are off to Eau Claire in Wisconsin, and Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday to continue their battleground tour after a raucous debut of the Minnesota governor in Philadelphia.

The rally in Wisconsin is due to start at 12pm CT and the vice-president and Walz will be joined by Wisconsin’s governor Tony Evers , senator Tammy Baldwin , Wisconsin secretary of state Sarah Godlewski , and others.

Indie folk band Bon Iver, who have their roots in Eau Claire, will perform at the rally before Harris and Walz are due to address the crowd around 1.25pm CT.

Updated at 11.37am BST

11.17am BST

Walz’s name has left some people confused as to how to pronounce it.

Is it “Waltz”, as in the dance, or “Walls”, as in the things that hold up roofs, or even “Wal-tz” as in Walmart? Turns out it’s “Waalls”, as in “Walls” but with a slightly longer “a”. He says it that way himself.

Minnesota news site MPR news has this handy video explainer:

11.12am BST

Cheat sheet: 10 things to know about Tim Walz

Tim Walz came from relative obscurity to seize the glittering prize of becoming Kamala Harris’s running mate. So who is he and what should you know about him?

Martin Pengelly has this handy cheat sheet to help you learn more about the Minnesota governor:

Updated at 11.15am BST

10.51am BST

The coach v the couch: key takeaways from the first Harris-Walz rally

Kamala Harris introduced her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz , to supporters at a packed, energetic rally at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Harris sought to define Walz foremost as a teacher, veteran and football coach.

Walz focused on a unifying, future-focused message, and attacked the Trump-Vance ticket with a focus on reproductive rights and other freedoms.

Meanwhile Josh Shapiro , who had been a vice-presidential contender, still made his mark.

Read the key takeaways here .

10.38am BST

Here are some images from the Harris/Walz campaign rally in Philadelphia last night.

Updated at 12.09pm BST

10.32am BST

Kamala Harris introduces running mate Tim Walz at raucous Philadelphia rally

Kamala Harris introduced her running mate Tim Walz as “the kind of vice-president America deserves” at a raucous rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday that showcased Democratic unity and enthusiasm for the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the November election.

Casting their campaign as a “fight for the future”, Harris and Walz were repeatedly interrupted by applause and cheering as they addressed thousands of battleground-state voters wearing bracelets that twinkled red, white and blue at Temple University’s Liacouras Center – a crowd Harris’s team said was its largest to date.

“Thank you for bringing back the joy,” a beaming Walz told Harris after she debuted the little-known Minnesota governor as a former social studies teacher, high school football coach and a National Guard veteran.

“We’ve got 91 days,” he declared. “My God, that’s easy. We’ll sleep when we’re dead.”