Vice President Harris announced her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, on Tuesday, following a turbulent process sparked by President Biden’s exit from the presidential race just a few weeks ago.
Democrats from all ends of the party spectrum quickly rallied around Walz as the choice, of the members of “squad”, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), for more moderate numbers as Senator Michael Bennet (Colorado).
“Gov. Tim Walz is a longtime advocate for ending child poverty,” Bennet said Tuesday in a post on social platform. “Together, we can send him and Vice President Harris to the White House and build an economy that, when it grows, grows for everyone, not just the people at the top.”
Even former Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (IW.Va.) praised the choicesaying in a statement that Walz “will bring normalcy back to the most chaotic political environment most of us have ever seen.”
“Democrats at disconcerting levels of willingness,” Ocasio-Cortez joked in a post Tuesday at X.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (California) said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Tuesday that the governor of Minnesota “is wonderful.”
“He’s right in the middle,” Pelosi said. “He is…the heart of Democratic America.”
The choice comes after recent conflicts in the party over who would take on the role of running mate. Progressives argued against having Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro side with Harris on the Democratic ticket on issues such as her past stance on school vouchers and her stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
Progressives faced resistance from those in Congress aligned with the Pennsylvania governor for his advocacy against Shapiro for the role, especially from Jewish lawmakers who said they had not correctly presented their position on the Israel-Hamas war and were leaning anti- Semitism.
“Josh’s stance on Israel is almost identical to everyone else’s, but he is being held to a different standard. So you have to ask yourself why,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (R-Florida) previously said.
Shapiro and others who were considered candidates for the vice president vacancy such as Senator Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear also quickly supported Walz.
“Vice President Kamala Harris has my enthusiastic support – and I know that Governor Tim Walz is an exceptionally strong addition to the ticket who will help Kamala move our country forward,” Shapiro said in a statement.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
