The Latest: Harris and Walz kick off their 2024 election campaign

Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, looking to strengthen the Democratic ticket in Midwestern states.

After an introduction from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, she and Walz made their joint debut at a rally Tuesday evening in Philadelphia, kicking off their battleground state tour.

Follow the AP’s Election-2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the Latest:

‘Take care of one another’

Gov. Walz is known for speaking regularly about the importance of “community.” Only today, he did it before a crowd of thousands at the outdoor event he and Vice President Harris headlined in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

In the direct summer sun, a member of the crowd seemed to succumb to the heat.

“We have someone down. They are treating him. They’re getting him some water, and it’s good,” Walz told the audience. “Take care of your neighbors.”

Advising others to take a drink, Walz told those attending to the audience member, “Thank you all for helping.”

“Take care of one another,” he went on to say more broadly.

“This idea of caring for a neighbor, a kindness, a hand up when somebody needs it,” he said. “That’s who we are.”

Harris hones in on ‘freedom’

Harris leaned into the theme of her campaign, “freedom,” elevating her voice in a new way as she becomes more comfortable delivering it.

Especially emphatic in the outdoor event in Eau Claire, Harris called for “Freedom of who you love openly with pride.”

But in particular, and with cheers rising up to meet her voice, Harris intoned robustly, “Freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body!”

“Do we believe in freedom? Do we believe in opportunity? Do we believe in America?” Harris shouted in closing. “And are we ready to fight for it?”

Harris left the stage to the sounds of her new campaign anthem, “Freedom,” by Beyoncé.

Harris shuts down chants of ‘lock him up’

Harris has during recent events tried to tamp down the chants of “Lock him up. Lock him up,” a mantra crowds have appropriated from similar chants that Trump campaign audiences in 2016 used in reference to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Harris motioned with her hands in Philadelphia on Tuesday to avoid the chants.

Today, she had a new comeback for the group, as she referred to herself and Walz as “joyful warriors.”

When crowds chanted to put Trump in jail, she said, “Hold on. Let the courts take care of that. We’re going to beat him in November,” igniting cheers.

Harris takes the stage in Eau Claire

Greeting in a high-five hand clasp with Tim Walz, Kamala Harris joined her new running mate at the outdoor rally in Eau Claire.

“Give it up for Wisconsin’s own Bon Iver,” she said, thanking the opening band, which was founded in the northwest Wisconsin city.

And asking for a round of applause for Biden, the crowd of thousands at the Eau Claire Event District began chanting, “Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!”

The Vance’s take an ice creak break

JD Vance and his wife, Usha, stopped for a sweet treat as they left the battleground state of Wisconsin.

At Olson Ice Cream, they were greeted by dozens of cheering supporters, many of whom had blue Trump campaign signs.

Usha Vance got a scoop of Mackinac Island Fudge, her husband said, while JD Vance ordered Mocha Mud Pie.

“I need a little caffeine,” he joked, before winding his way through the crowd and signing several pieces of campaign material for fans.

Walz takes the stage in Eau Claire

Walz is taking the stage to Bruce Sringsteen’s “Born to Run,” at a campaign rally in his neighboring state of Wisconsin, and he’s offering a bit of Midwestern kinship.

“Hello, Eau Claire. Isn’t it nice to have a candidate who can pronounce the name correctly?” Walz said.

Walz is a former south central Minnesota U.S. House member and is appearing with Harris in the city of Eau Claire, which is a key target for the Democratic ticket and just a little more than 80 miles from his home in St. Paul.

President Joe Biden won the county by 11 percentage points — more than 6,000 votes — in 2020, carrying the entire state by fewer than 21,000 votes.

Walz’s place on the ticket would seem to help boost support in other western Wisconsin counties, such as LaCrosse, another reliably Democratic county bordering Minnesota.

‘It’s Friday night lights’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz stopped by the Harris campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, and the mood was akin to a high school pep rally with chants of “Let’s go coach.”

In a video posted by the campaign, Walz said, “We’re doing it. It’s on,” and, “It’s Friday night lights.”

Walz was a high school teacher and was on the coaching staff for the football team before entering politics, with Mankato West High School winning a state championship in 1999. Many high schools play their varsity football games on Friday evenings, with the term “Friday Night Lights” referencing to a book about Texas football by the journalist Buzz Bissinger that became a movie and TV show.

Rally attendees say Harris’ message of rights is important for women and daughters

Chloe Longmire, who attended Wednesday’s rally in Eau Claire said that she is encouraged and excited that Harris has the potential to be the first Black female president.

“She’s trying to create a world where people all have their rights to their own decisions, their bodies, their choices. Women’s rights,” are definitely crucial, she told AP. “Definitely something that I look for as a woman, as a woman who has a daughter, I want her to be able to have a right to her own body. We talk about it every day, all the time. And that’s something that’s central for me.”

Andrea Lorenz noted that her teenage kids are now more interested than ever in the election.

“I have two teenage kids, one, a daughter who all of a sudden wasn’t excited about the election. And now. And now she is,” she said, adding “I love what, what she’s talking about with education and abortion rights.”

Wisconsin voter Dan Miller said he liked the tone and message of the Harris and Walz ticket.

“I love Tim Walz saying, you know, yeah, we’re the monsters. You know, look at us. You know, we want. We want to feed children. We want to educate everybody. We want women to have a choice versus, you know, having the government make their choices for them,” he said. “It’s the tone that they use. It’s the messaging itself. It’s just so much better. We love Joe. Joe has been an incredible president, but he just isn’t the same messenger. And sometimes you need a better messenger. And that’s Kamala.”

Vance jokes about checking out Air Force Two

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said he had a bit of fun Wednesday trying to catch up with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris as the pair used the same Wisconsin airport as part of competing campaign travel.

“I just wanted to check out my future plane,” he joked with reporters after walking off the Donald Trump campaign plane and walking straight over to Air Force Two, which had landed with vice president and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Vance used the stunt to jab Harris for not having conducted an extended interview or full press conference since she began her campaign July 21 after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid.

“I also wanted to go say hello to the vice president and ask her why Kamala Harris refuses, why does she refuse to answer questions from the media,” Vance said. “I don’t think the vice president waved at me as she drove away.”

Indie band Bon Iver headlines Harris and Walz campaign rally

Indie band Bon Iver was warming up an outdoor audience waiting for Kamala Harris to take the stage in Eau Claire, with “The Battle Cry of Freedom.”

“We’re all here for the right reasons,” lead singer Justin Vernon, with the Eau Claire-based band, said before breaking into a slow, bluesy version of the Civil War-era anthem.

The band was opening on the grounds of Eau Claire Event District for Harris’ first appearance in swing state Wisconsin Wednesday with her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, from nearby Minnesota.

“Let’s go!” Vernon told the crowd of thousands before leaving the stage in anticipation of the appearance of the Democratic ticket.

Harris and Vance cross paths on the tarmac at Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley Regional Airport

Eau Claire, Wisconsin, specifically Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, is the center of the political universe at the moment.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance both landed and were on the tarmac of the airport in the northwestern Wisconsin city, planning to hold separate campaign events scheduled for the same time in the afternoon.

Harris, who arrived in Air Force Two, disembarked and left for her event, where she was to speak with her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Vance’s aircraft could be seen taxiing as he prepared for his rally. Before leaving for his event, Vance walked over to get a closer look at Air Force Two, the aircraft he hopes to consider his main form of travel beginning in January.

Wisconsin is among the handful of states considered the most competitive, where Democratic President Joe Biden won by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020.

Harris campaign has raised $36 million since Walz announcement

The Harris campaign is continuing a strong fundraising wave after the vice president picked Walz as her running mate.

The campaign said Wednesday that it has raised $36 million in the first 24 hours after the formal vice president candidate announcement.

The two VP candidates have something in common: A thirst for Diet Mountain Dew

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio have one thing in common besides being candidates for vice president – Diet Mountain Dew.

Walz doesn’t drink coffee, but he’s frequently spotted with a fluorescent green plastic bottle of his caffeinated beverage of choice.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan once tweeted a photo of him grabbing a cold one, saying, “He’s Dew’n it again! #dadjoke.” He replied, “Had to Dew it.”Becoming Kamala Harris’ running mate doesn’t appear likely to change Walz’s habits. Minneapolis resident Scott Svare said he saw someone who appeared to be with Walz’s security detail loading two bottles of Diet Mountain Dew into an SUV on Tuesday.

Vance’s love for the yellow soda spurred a jab from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear when he was still in the mix to become Harris’ running mate.

“Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?” Beshear asked rhetorically in a CNN interview, suggesting that Vance was inauthentically Appalachian.Earlier that week, Vance had said at a rally in Ohio that he’d had a Diet Mountain Dew that day and added jokingly that he expected to be called a “racist” because of it. Beshear later apologized to the manufacturer – but not to Vance.Still, Beshear said he thought Kentuckians were more likely to turn to Ale-8-One as their soft drink of choice.

Vance says voters decide based on who’s at the top of the ticket

Asked about Trump’s comments that the VP pick doesn’t dramatically affect voters’ moves, Vance said he believed voters make decisions based on the top of the ticket, but took an opportunity to go after his latest rival.

Vance said Wednesday in Michigan that Walz is a “crazy radical” and that picking him shows Harris “bends the knee to the far left of the Democratic Party.”

Sen. Ron Johnson says Wisconsin voters will reject Walz as being too liberal

Once Wisconsin voters learn more about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s record, they will reject him as being too liberal, Wisconsin Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Wednesday ahead of Walz making his first visit to the battleground state as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

Harris and Walz are scheduled to hold a rally in western Wisconsin, only about an hour east of the Minnesota border.

“He is part of the radical, crazy left as is Vice President Harris,” Johnson said on a news conference call. “I don’t think that appeals to Wisconsinites if the mainstream media actually reports on his position instead of something nobody is talking about: (Project) 2025.”

Wisconsin Republican Party chair Brian Schimming said Harris picked Walz because she’s worried about carrying Minnesota and wants to shore up Democratic support in the so-called blue wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

“I actually think this pick hurts her in Wisconsin because of Gov. Walz’s policies,” Schimming said. “A pick like Tim Walz is not one that expands the appeal of the ticket. It’s extremely ideological.”

Vance says he was welcomed in Michigan ‘despite the fact that I’m an Ohio State guy’

Vance is using a stop at a Michigan police department to talk about what he sees as failed immigration policies that are Harris’ fault.

“We’ve got to throw Kamala Harris out of office, not give her a promotion,” Vance said, arguing that he and Trump support law enforcement and law and order, while Harris does not.

Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide introduced Vance, who said he received a briefing from officers ahead of his remarks.

Vance invoked the longstanding sports rivalry between his home state and Michigan: “These guys have given me an incredible welcome despite the fact that I’m an Ohio State guy.”

Former Rep. Mike Rogers spotted on sidelines of Vance stop north of Detroit

Fresh off his win in Michigan’s Republican Senate primary, Rogers is out to see Sen. JD Vance stump in his home state.

Rogers secured the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan in Tuesday’s primary and will face Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the November election.

Rogers has the backing of national Republican groups and former President Donald Trump. He defeated former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash and physician Sherry O’Donnell.

He and Slotkin will now compete for a seat left open by longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s retirement.

Trump says he’ll debate Harris and predicts there’ll be an announcement about it soon

The former president’s comments came after he pulled out of a scheduled debate on ABC News.

“I hear she’s sort of a nasty person but not a good, good debater. But we’ll see because we’ll be debating her, I guess in the pretty near future. It’s going to be announced fairly soon but we’ll be debating her,” Trump in an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday.

Trump said he wants to debate Harris and he would prefer it to be on Fox, which is perceived as being friendlier to him, but said “every network loves me very much right now” and even suggested openness to debating on ABC News despite his protestations in recent weeks as he claimed the network was biased against him.

He claimed there “might be” a conflict with ABC News because he sued the network in March following a statement by anchor George Stephanopoulos that Trump had been found “liable for rape.” A New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll but rejected her claim that she was raped.

“You could use that as an excuse. I could use that. I’ve said that, is there a conflict. And you know, there might be,” Trump said.

Trump agreed to the ABC debate two months after filing his lawsuit at the time when he initially was expected to face President Joe Biden. He’s recently cited his frustrations with Stephanopoulos as reason why he would not keep the debate commitment, along with the fact that he agreed to it when he thought he would be debating Biden, not Harris, and claimed that agreement was scuttled by Biden ending his reelection bid.

But Trump on Wednesday noted that ABC had said the debate would be moderated by “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and “ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis, which he didn’t voice any objections about.

Trump didn’t offer any further details.

With Walz on the national ticket, a colleague is taking over his role leading the party’s governors

The Democratic Governors Association announced Wednesday that Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly would assume Walz’s post as chairman of the organization.

Walz gave up his post as chairman Tuesday, when Harris tapped him as her vice presidential running mate, but continues to serve as Minnesota’s governor.

Kelly, in her second term as Kansas governor, has served as the DGA’s vice chair since late 2022. In a statement, she credited Walz with “breaking fundraising records and putting Democratic candidates for governor in the best position to be competitive in tough races this year” during his time leading the DGA.

Sen. JD Vance is hitting the campaign trail again Wednesday, but he’s not going it alone

The GOP vice presidential nominee boarded his campaign plane along with his wife, Usha.

Vance is heading to the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin — the same two states his Democratic opponents are hitting, on the same day.

The Democrats’ Midwest swing comes a day after Vice President Kamala Harris officially unveiled Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate and appeared with him at a rally in Philadelphia, just hours after Vance made a campaign stop in the same city.

Both campaigns had planned to journey to North Carolina this week as well but called off those plans due to inclement weather concerns.

Harris-Walz vs. Trump-Vance: It’s now an expanded battle for both the Sun Belt and Rust Belt

The most turbulent presidential campaign in generations is now set to play out as a 90-day sprint across two fronts: the Rust Belt and the Sun Belt.

With her choice of a Midwestern governor as a running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris pushed to shore up “Blue Wall” states — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — that Democrats need to win to keep the White House.

Harris, the first Black woman and woman of South Asian descent to head a major party ticket, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, will also be locked in Sun Belt competition to win Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina, an electoral map that has expanded since Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race.

An underappreciated jump-start for Walz

Tim Walz had two jump starts, the first largely unnoticed, the second underappreciated.

The first came earlier this year when the governor and the vice president visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul. That visit underscored shared values between the two, according to people familiar with Harris’ thinking. Key issues that resonated with Harris included Walz’s advocacy for in vitro fertilization and child tax credits — an idea Walz has used in Minnesota.

The next key moment came July 23, two days after Biden’s withdrawal, when Walz went on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and uttered a dig at Trump and Vance that quickly went viral.

“These guys are just weird,” Walz said, in his signature conversational, informal manner.

For years, Democrats, including Biden and Harris, have leveled high-minded attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy. They spotlighted his legal troubles, racist and sexist rhetoric, the hard-right policies found in the “Project 2025” agenda that Trump disavows. The jovial governor of Minnesota encapsulated it all in one word: “weird.” And he smiled while doing it.

Social media did its thing, and the Harris campaign took notice. Within days, the vice president — and other vice-presidential contenders — were using “weird” like an epithet.