Tim Walz accepts Vice President nomination at DNC convention

Chicago: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accepted his party’s nomination for Vice President on Wednesday night, using his Democratic National Convention (DNC) address to thank the packed arena for “bringing the joy” to an election transformed by the elevation of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple, reason: We love this country,” Walz said as thousands of delegates hoisted vertical placards reading ‘Coach Walz’ in red, white and blue.

Walz described his upbringing in Nebraska and teaching and coaching football in Minneosta and told the crowd, “Thank you for bringing the joy to this fight.” “While other States were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” he said.

In a dig at his Republican counterpart, JD Vance, he added, “I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale.” When Walz talked about the difficulty conceiving his daughter, Hope, she made a heart with her hands and held it over her chest. His son, Gus, wept watching his dad speak and at least once shouted, “That’s my dad!” “I haven’t given a lot of speeches like this but I’ve given a lot of pep talks,” Walz said.

Democrats gathered at Chicago’s United Center are hoping to build on the momentum Harris has brought since



taking over the top of the party’s presidential ticket last month. They want to harness the Democratic exuberance that followed President Joe Biden stepping aside while also making clear to their supporters that they face a fierce battle with former President Donald Trump.

Many Americans had never heard of Walz until Harris made him her running mate.

In his first weeks of campaigning, he’s charmed supporters with his background and helped to balance Harris’ coastal background as a cultural representative of Midwestern states whose voters she needs this fall.

But Walz also has faced scrutiny, including questions about embellishing his background. His wife this week clarified that she did not undergo in vitro fertilization, as Walz has repeatedly claimed, but used other fertility treatments.

Republicans also have criticised Walz for a 2018 comment he made about carrying weapons in war. Though he served in the National Guard for 24 years, he did not deploy to a war zone.

Benjamin C Ingman, one of Walz’s old high school students, introduced the man many speakers — and Harris at times — have referred to as ‘Coach Walz’. At Ingman’s prompting, many of Walz’s former players decked out in their red and white jerseys took the stage to help introduce him.