Walz could ‘speak up’ for working class as vice president: Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) praised Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) during a visit to his state this week, suggesting he may have a favorite candidate as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris considers who to select as her running mate.

Sanders traveled to Minnesota, to join Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Saturday for a rally ahead of the state’s Aug. 13 congressional primary elections. A day earlier, he spoke highly of the governor, who is reported to be on Harris’s vice presidential short list, in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio.

“I am very impressed by” Walz, Sanders said. “I think you have an excellent governor who understands the needs of working families, so I hope very much that the vice president selects a running mate who will speak up and take on powerful corporate interests, and I think Tim Walz is somebody who could do that.”

The senator and two-time Democratic presidential candidate was asked what he would like to see in Harris’s running mate, and he expanded on his plea to help working-class families.

“At a time when 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck, there’s a lot of pain out there,” Sanders said. “Working people are struggling, and they’re seeing massive levels of income and wealth inequality, and what they want is political leadership in Washington, and all over the country, to start paying attention to their needs.”

Walz is among the likes of Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) as a top contender to be selected as the Democratic vice presidential nominee, an announcement Harris is likely to make in the coming days. She secured the party’s presidential nomination Friday during a virtual delegate vote, more than two weeks ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

In addition to receiving praise from Sanders, an adviser to Joe Biden said this week that the president thinks Walz is “just a blast” and that Biden was “in the best mood ever” during a Wisconsin-Minnesota trip earlier this year.

Last week, Sanders endorsed Harris at a rally in Portland, Maine, several days after Biden withdrew from the presidential race, making him one of the last Democratic-aligned politicians to fall in line behind the new standard-bearer.