Minnesota Governor Tim Walz made his first solo appearance as a Democratic candidate on the campaign trail Tuesday, telling a union audience in Los Angeles that the Democratic slate led by Vice President Kamala Harris will emphasize pro-worker policies.
Walz seemed to tailor most of his 20-minute speech to the audience of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a public sector workers’ union with 1.4 million members.
Walz, who was a union member as a public school teacher in southern Minnesota before winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006, praised the policies Harris advocated during President Joe Biden’s administration and those he advanced as Minnesota governor.
Walz and Harris came from working-class backgrounds, he said, noting that Harris worked at McDonald’s while she was in college.
“Vice President Harris has adopted that work ethic and goes to work every day to make sure families not only make ends meet, but get ahead,” he said.
Harris led the administration’s efforts to reduce barriers to unionization and cast the deciding vote in the U.S. Senate that passed the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package in 2021, which Walz said kept public sector workers employed during the pandemic.
Walz said that as governor, he made it easier to form unions, strengthened worker protections and “banned forever those damn captive audience rallies,” meaning rallies that employers can compel workers to attend before union elections to discourage them from supporting union organizing.
Both Walz and Harris had formed picket lines with striking workers, he said.
Walz is at least the second union official to appear on the presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Reagan was chairman of the Screen Actors Guild before embarking on a career in politics. Unlike the two-term Republican president, who was in a high-profile conflict with the air traffic controllers’ union, Walz told the audience he would not “lose.” [his] Way” once it is selected.
Trump was also a member of SAG-AFTRA, the successor organization to the Screen Actors Guild, when he ran for president in 2016 and 2020. Trump, who was nominated by the Republicans for president in July, is no longer a member.
Walz urged union officials to get involved in campaign organizing, saying if the group can mobilize friends and neighbors, it could make a difference in an election where tens of thousands of votes could be decisive in some key states.
“It’s going to be a close, tough race,” he said. “But if each of us works an extra shift, an extra hour, a little bit more, we can wake up the morning after the election and know that our work has changed the lives of millions, changed generations, and impacted the world.”
He concluded with a campaign slogan Harris had used and had the crowd chant, “When we fight, we win.”
Attack on the GOP
Walz called on unions to support mobilize Democratic voters in November.
“I know I’m preaching to the choir a little bit today,” he said. “But people have to sing.”
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, are “not part of the chorus” of union supporters, Walz said.
Trump has said he supports “right-to-work” laws that make union organizing more arduous, Walz said.
Walz reported on a conversation with Shawn Fain, the head of the United Autoworkers union. In the conversation, Fain called Trump a derogatory nickname for an anti-union worker because of his stance on such laws.
“I saw our friend Shawn Fain from the UAW had a name for it, he called it a strikebreaker,” Walz said. “That’s not an insult, it’s an observation, just to be clear.”
Project 2025
A second Trump administration will work to “put the thumbscrews on working people,” Walz said, pointing out that the “Project 2025 to-do list” includes, among other things, restricting union forms of organization and reducing overtime.
Project 2025 is a list of policy goals developed by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, with input from former Trump administration staffers. Democrats have sought to link Trump to the document, which they describe as radically conservative.
Trump denied having been involved in drafting the law and did not say he would work toward it if elected.
Walz, a former high school football coach, said Trump was “playing dumb” about the content of Project 2025.
“I’m a football coach at heart,” he said. “One thing I can tell you for sure is that if you take the time to create a playbook, you’re damn sure going to use it.”
Broader message
Walz also peppered his remarks with messages that appeared to be aimed at a broader electoral audience: He spoke out in favor of reproductive rights and criticized the restrictions on book bans that some Republican states have put in place against gender- or race-related content, as well as Trump’s position on tax cuts for the wealthy.
Walz emphasized the campaign’s freedom theme, saying the government should not interfere in “personal decisions” such as how to start a family, what books to read or whether to join a union.
“This country is great because we have a golden rule that makes everything work. We mind our own business when it comes to these things,” he said.
He also fended off criticism of his performance in the Army National Guard, which has come under scrutiny from Republicans including Vance, a Marine Corps veteran, who said Walz over-exaggerated his role and deserted his unit months before it deployed to Iraq in 2005.
Walz said he was proud of his 24 years of service in the National Guard, which he only ended in 2005 so he could run for Congress, where he joined the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
“I am proud of my service to this country,” he said. “And I firmly believe that you should never belittle another person’s service. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, even my opponent, I have just a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
