Andrea Shalal and Stephanie Kelly
CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. vice presidential nominee Tim Walz led Democrats at a political pep rally on Wednesday night pledging to work with his running mate Kamala Harris to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.
The Minnesota governor, who was virtually unknown in the United States until 15 days ago, acknowledged that he had never given a speech of this magnitude before, but said that as a former high school football coach, “I’ve given a lot of pep talks.”
The crowd responded by chanting “Coach, coach, coach!”
On the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Walz brought his straight-talking style and small-town values to the national stage, along with a host of political luminaries and star entertainers.
Walz, 60, accepted the party’s second-party nomination.
Referring to Republican attacks on abortion rights and same-sex marriage, he said America should be a country where no child goes hungry, where health care and housing are human rights and where “the government never comes into your bedroom.”
Waltz spoke about protecting freedoms that Democrats say are under attack by Trump, 78, who is running for president for the third time as a major party runner. He said a second White House for Trump would not serve anyone but the wealthy and the most extreme.
In the audience next to his mother and sister, Waltz’s son, Gus, 17, stood up during his father’s speech, pointed at the stage and appeared to shout, “That’s my dad,” before bursting into tears.
Harris, 59, is scheduled to speak on the final night of the rally on Thursday.
Winfrey, Clinton join the fight
Media personality Oprah Winfrey, along with former Democratic President Bill Clinton, argued that while Trump acted for himself, Harris acted for the country.
“The next time you hear him speak, don’t count the lies, count the I’s,” Clinton, 78, told a cheering crowd at her 12th national convention.
Describing herself as an independent voter, Winfrey said, “To all the independents and to all the undecided people… the 2024 election will be about civility and respect.”
Delegates rose to their feet and cheered wildly as she took to the stage as a surprise addition to the program.
Vice President Harris emerged last month as a possible 2024 Democratic contender after President Joe Biden dropped out of the Nov. 5 election, elevating the little-known Waltz onto the national stage 15 days ago.
American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder performed, and actress Mindy Kaling joked about cooking with her friend Kamala.
A highlight of Wednesday, January 6, 2021, was the fact that Republican defectors and Democrats joined forces to support candidate Harris-Waltz. A video showed Trump encouraging his supporters to be strong and fight before they stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to thwart Biden’s 2020 victory.
As the video was played, delegates sat in silence, in stark contrast to the cheers and applause that had rang out throughout the night.
Olivia Troye, who left her job as White House national security adviser under Trump after Jan. 6, said Republican candidates are doing the groundwork to undermine the 2024 election.
Former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan told Republicans watching at home on camera that they needed to “get rid of Trump.”
“Someone who votes for Kamala Harris in 2024 is not a Democrat, they’re a patriot,” he said.
Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat who was House Speaker that day, said, “We must never forget who attacked our democracy on January 6th: him. But we must also never forget who saved our democracy that day: us.”
Polls show Biden, 81, trailing Trump before the Democratic president handed the party leadership to Harris but now show him ahead of his Republican rival in several states that will decide the election.
Divisions over Gaza continue
Biden’s support for Israel’s offensive against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, one of the most divisive issues within the party, was not a major topic at the convention, but it has been one of the most divisive issues in the party’s history, with Palestinian health officials saying more than 40,000 people have been killed.
John and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg Polin, were greeted with a standing ovation and chants of “Bring them home” as they took to the stage. Goldberg Polin, 23, was one of more than 200 hostages taken by Palestinian Hamas militants in the October 7 Israeli attack.
“Bringing the hostages home is not a political issue. It’s a humanitarian issue,” Pollin said.
Leaders of the Unfettered National Movement, which mobilized some 750,000 voters in the primary to protest U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza, said late Wednesday that convention organizers had rejected the group’s request to include Palestinian speakers on the program.
A small number of supporters began a sit-in outside the chamber to protest the exclusion, vowing not to move until they had a chance to speak.
