Who is Gwen Walz? What to know about the wife of Kamala Harris’ running mate
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Ever since Vice President Kamala Harris announced Tim Walz as her running mate, the buzz around Minnesota’s governor has been about his political image as a folksy “Midwestern Dad.”
But what about his “running mate?”
Gwen Walz currently serves as Minnesota’s 39th first lady and could become second lady of the United States if the Democratic ticket succeeds in securing the White House this November.
As an educator, activist, and someone who describes herself as one of her husband’s closest advisers during his time as a congressman and governor, she already has a reputation as someone familiar with politics and the spotlight.
Background, passions and career
Born in Glencoe, Minnesota, Walz, 58, and her three sisters, were raised by parents Val and Linn who worked as teachers and small business owners.
After attending Gustavus Adolphus College and Minnesota State University, she followed in her family’s footsteps and became a teacher as well, focusing on English.
In addition to teaching in public, alternative and migrant schools, she also served as an administrator and coordinator for Mankato Area Public Schools for more than two decades.
In an episode of the “What If It Works” podcast released last month, she was interviewed by her former student, Ann Vote, who grew up to become a teacher herself.
Vote called Walz’s high school American Literature class her “most memorable.”
Said to be passionate about improving equity in education, Walz has also taught in prisons and expanded education among incarcerated populations.
She is an avid supporter of the Bard Prison Initiative, a program dedicated to providing college-level educational opportunities in prisons. With the help of other congressional spouses, she expanded the initiative to more than 11 states.
That included educational opportunities from prestigious institutions such as Notre Dame and Washington University, she said on the “What If It Works” podcast.
During the episode, she also discussed her work with the Eastern Correctional Facility where she helped establish a debate team that beat Harvard University’s team.
“The arguments were so unique and different than what was heard on the college debate circuit,” she said.
LGBTQ+ rights are of high importance to her as well, she’s said, and students recall her and her husband being strong allies back in the 1990s.
Jacob Reitan, a student at Mankato West High School in 1999, said he told Walz he was gay before he told his parents, and her ability to openly discuss gay issues during the 90s “meant the world to [him].”
The couple turned to politics due to dissatisfaction with the Iraq War and they sought to enact change, she said during the podcast interview.
Since becoming first lady of Minnesota in 2018, she set herself apart by becoming more heavily involved compared to other political spouses.
In fact, she is the very first first lady in Minnesota to establish her own office in the state Capitol, according to the Star Tribune.
“[Tim and I] do work really closely together, and there are issues where I do a lot of the work and share my thoughts,” she said on the podcast. “We are still one another’s closest advisers.”
She added that she also works closely with her husband’s chief of staff.
She has even proven capable of replacing her husband when the need arose.
The New York Times reported on a 2006 fundraising dinner for Tim Walz’s first congressional campaign, during which he suffered from laryngitis. A seasoned public speaker, the report said, she stepped in and delivered an eloquent speech on his behalf.
Met teaching at same high school
Known as Gwen Whipple at the time, she met Tim Walz while teaching at the same Nebraska high school.
They even shared a classroom at one point.
After their first date of dinner and a movie, Tim Walz apparently leaned in for a kiss which she declined. He replied, “That’s fine, but you should know I’m going to marry you,” the Star Tribune reported.
The couple wed in 1994.
“The first project we ever did together was Earth Day,” she recalled on the “What If It Works” podcast. “We thought, gosh, we really have complementary things about our styles that work well together.”
The Walzes were quick to combine their teaching talents, establishing an annual summer trip to China for their students.
They even spent their honeymoon on one of these trips, and the Star Tribune said that they sacrificed sharing a room to accommodate their odd number of students.
The two later relocated to her home state of Minnesota, where they expanded their teaching duties at Mankato West High School.
Per the Star Tribune, their relationship resembles a movie plot: He taught social studies; she taught English. He coached the football team; she coached the cheerleading team.
The Walzes have been married for 30 years and have two children, 23-year-old Hope and 17-year-old Gus.
Their children represent how their policy beliefs are quite personal to them, they say, particularly with regard to reproductive rights.
“When my wife and I decided to have children, we spent years going through infertility treatments, and I remember praying every night for a call for good news, the pit in my stomach when the phone rang, and the agony when we heard that the treatments hadn’t worked,” her husband, 60, reflected during his debut campaign event in Philadelphia earlier this month.
“So, it wasn’t by chance that when we welcomed our daughter into the world, we named her Hope,” he said.
On the campaign trail
He continues to proudly introduce his wife as he steps into his new role in the national spotlight.
“I can’t wait for all of you and America to get to know my incredible wife, Gwen, a 29-year public school educator,” her husband said during the Philadelphia rally.
Recognizing the daunting position she has been thrust into, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Harris’ husband, extended his support with a phone call following the official announcement of her husband as the vice presidential pick.
“I remember getting this call four years ago, and I actually know what you’re going through right now,” Emhoff reassured her. “But the good news is, I’ve already been through it.”
“I’m going to be there for you,” he added. “And we’re going to do this together.”
The Harris-Walz ticket and their spouses head back to Pennsylvania for a campaign bus tour on Sunday, just prior to the Democratic National Convention starting Monday.
“This is the first time all four principals have campaigned together, following the rally in Philadelphia earlier this month,” the campaign announced in a press release.
This campaign event will take on a more intimate feel as the candidates and their spouses plan to speak to voters individually in community settings, officials said.
Walz has also begun spearheading campaign events of her own, including a Utah Women for Kamala kickoff call on Thursday.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, she said she was “especially outraged” about former President Donald Trump’s platform, specifically in regards to public school funding and his stance on reproductive rights.
The report said the call raised over $50,000 for the Harris-Walz campaign.
ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim contributed to this report.
(SAN DIEGO) — During a visit to the southern border shared with California and Mexico on Thursday, Speaker Mike Johnson ramped up attacks on the Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her a “San Francisco radical” who “bears responsibility for this disaster” as “border czar.”
The visit included a press conference along a border fence called “Whiskey 8” in San Ysidro, California — south of San Diego — with California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa as well as a tour of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and Imperial Beach locations, Johnson’s office told ABC News.
“We’ve had a very interesting tour here at the San Diego sector. This has become in many ways the epicenter of the Biden-Harris border catastrophe. And now we’re very concerned in Congress that this illegal immigrant invasion is threatening even the integrity of our elections,” Johnson said at a press conference held along a border fence.
Johnson claimed the situation in San Diego has worsened.
In recent weeks, San Diego has had the highest number of encounters of any border region in the U.S., according to a senior CBP official. But those numbers have declined by 60 percent since the new asylum restrictions from the Biden administration were put in place earlier this summer.
“[Biden’s] executive order was too weak, too little too late, and it’s not solving the problem,” Johnson said Thursday.
Johnson said human trafficking and illegal narcotics are concerns at the border, specifically in San Diego.
Johnson’s visit came hours after the House approved a resolution to condemn Harris’ border policies. Six Democrats in vulnerable House races — Reps. Mary Peltola, Don Davis, Henry Cuellar, Yadira Caraveo, Gluesenkamp Perez and Jared Golden — voted with Republicans to pass the measure.
Ahead of the vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the resolution “fake and fraudulent” during his weekly press conference.
“[Kamala Harris] was never assigned border czar. [Republicans] are making that up,” Jeffries said.
Johnson last visited the border in January 2024 when the speaker led a delegation of 64 Republicans to tour the Eagle Pass, Texas, port of entry.
The House has passed its own border bill called the Secure the Border Act, but rejected the bipartisan Senate border bill after Trump pressured Republicans to kill the deal.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ emergence as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination is a historic moment for the United States, as she seems poised to become the first Black woman and Asian American to lead a major party ticket.
The 2024 general election will be the first since 1976 that does not include someone named Bush, Clinton or Biden on the ticket.
Harris quickly garnered support from influential Democrats and raised a record $81 million within 24 hours of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. From Sunday to Tuesday evening, Team Harris raised $126 million since the endorsement.
She is preparing for her most significant moment yet, as she hits the ground running and makes the case for why voters should elect her the next president.
Her story began in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was a first-generation American, born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father who divorced when she was 6 years old.
She attended law school at UC Law San Francisco. She worked her way up the political chain, first as deputy district attorney in Oakland in the 1990s, prosecuting gang violence, drug trafficking and sexual abuse cases. In 2004, she became the first woman to serve as the district attorney in San Francisco. She later became California’s first female and person of color to be elected as attorney general before joining the U.S. Senate in 2017.
Harris gained recognition for her work on the judicial and intelligence committees. She held a strong stance on civil rights and abortion rights, which she questioned future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh about during his nomination hearing.
Harris ran for president in 2019. Although she was not elected as the Democratic nominee. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in debating Harris in 2019 criticized her, for example, saying there’s no excuse for her record as a prosecutor and she owed an apology to those who suffered under her reign.
Harris oversaw more than 1,900 marijuana convictions in San Francisco, according to previously unreported records, which became a point of criticism. Her critics pointed to her prosecutors appearing to convict people on marijuana charges at a higher rate than her predecessor, based on city data.
After she dropped out of the race in 2019, Biden chose her as his running mate.
Five years later, she now has the opportunity to become president of the United States.
“My biggest thing is making sure that Trump doesn’t get in the White House,” David Brown, a Democratic voter, said in an AP interview. “But I would want to know what her policies are, that’s the big thing for me.”
Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
And now speculation is turning to who her running mate would be – with prominent figures in battleground states rising to the top, such as Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“Harris’ team, they’re already talking about picking someone from a potential swing state, somebody who hails from one of these critical states that Harris would need to win the presidency,” said Rachael Bade, a Politico reporter and an ABC News contributor. “They’re trying to figure out a way that she can extend her reach beyond her typical base.”
Other potential running mates for Harris are Governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Roy Cooper of North Carolina.
Though a source familiar tells ABC News’ Mary Bruce the pool is roughly 12 people being considered for Harris’ running mate. Harris is expected to make her announcement by Aug. 7.
Without wasting any time, Harris’ team is launching their first campaign ad hammering Republicans over their anti-abortion rights position.
As Harris steps into the spotlight, she will face criticisms of her past — from Republicans over issues like immigration and Democrats wary of her time as a prosecutor.
Biden had tasked Harris with leading diplomatic efforts in 2021 to address the root causes of migration in three Central American countries. The White House has praised her work, but Republicans have strongly criticized her on the immigration issue.
During her first overseas trip as vice president, she advised Guatemalan migrants not to come to the U.S., which drew criticism from immigration advocates.
With the Democratic convention just weeks away in Chicago, Republicans are taking aim at the likely nominee. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance made his first solo campaign appearance Monday and attacked Harris.
“If you want to lead this country, you should feel grateful for it,” Vance said. “You should feel a sense of gratitude and I never hear that gratitude come through when I listen to Kamala Harris.”
Vance took another jab at Harris and the Democratic Party at his rally in Virginia Monday evening.
“A couple of elite Democrats got a smoke-filled room and decided to throw Joe Biden overboard,” Vance said. “That is not how it works. That is a threat to democracy.”
Trump has expressed frustration over restarting his campaign now that Biden has exited the race. While Republicans and the Trump campaign used Biden’s age as a problem, with Biden out of the race Trump is now the oldest presidential nominee in history.
Trump himself was once a supporter of Harris. He donated $6,000 to her campaign for reelection as California attorney general, including a $5,000 check.
Both campaigns are gearing up for a fight with only three months left before voters go to the polls.
“We have doors to knock on, we have people to talk to, we have phone calls to make, and we have an election to win,” Harris said Monday in Wilmington, Delaware.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is back in Washington and is preparing to roll out her economic plan on the road in North Carolina on Friday, which will mark her first major policy rollout since becoming the Democratic nominee. As Donald Trump looks for a campaign reset, he spoke with Elon Musk live on Tuesday and will deliver remarks on the economy in North Carolina on Wednesday.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Trump to deliver remarks on economy in North Carolina
Former President Donald Trump is set to deliver remarks on the economy in North Carolina on Wednesday as the campaign works to recenter its campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The election’s coming up, and the people want to hear about the economy,” Trump said during an interview with Elon Musk on X Monday, directly blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the current state of the economy.
The economy has been one of the Trump campaign’s central election issues this cycle — the former president often spending a considerable amount of time discussing inflation, gas prices and the job market.
“I just ask this: Are you better off now, or were you better off when I was president?” Trump said Monday night as he was wrapping up his conversation with Musk.
Omar decries ‘shameful’ opponents in primary race
Following her Tuesday night primary victory, Rep. Ilhan Omar told supporters: “We run the politics of joy, because we know it is joyful to fight for your neighbors.”
“We know it is joyful to want to live in a peaceful and equitable world,” she added, per ABC News’ St. Paul affiliate KSTP-TV.
Omar also had harsh words for her main primary opponent Don Samuels, though did not mention him by name.
“I hope that they reflect in the shameful way they decided to divide our district and the incredible people we are grateful to represent,” she said of her challengers.
Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar wins primary
Rep. Ilhan Omar has won her Congressional primary in Minnesota, multiple media outlets projected Tuesday night.
Omar’s win follows defeats by two of her fellow squad members in their primaries — Cori Bush from Missouri, and Jamaal Bowman of New York.
Omar had been expected to win in her district despite a challenge from former Minneapolis city council member Don Samuels.
Bush lost her primary earlier this month to St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell. He was backed by more than $8 million from the pro-Israel United Democracy Project.
Bowman lost to Westchester County Executive George Latimer in June. Per AdImpact, the race was the most expensive House primary on record, with most of the funding coming from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) United Democracy Project PAC in support of Latimer. Latimer was recruited to run by AIPAC.
Walz says he’s ‘damn proud’ of military record, thanks Vance for his service
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in his first solo campaign appearance, defended his military record and thanked his vice presidential opponent, Sen. JD Vance, for his service.
“I am damn proud of my service to this country,” Walz said to applause at the AFSCME convention in California. “And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record. Anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
Vance has repeatedly criticized how Walz has talked about his military record, which included 24 years in the Army National Guard before he retired to run for Congress in 2005. Vance served as a combat correspondent for four years in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Read more about Vance’s comments and Walz’s background here.
Biden says he would attend Trump’s inauguration if he were elected
President Joe Biden on Tuesday, as he was departing the White House, said he would go to Trump’s inauguration in January if he were to win this year’s election.
“I have good manners, not like him,” Biden told reporters after being asked if he’d attend. Trump did not attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
Biden also defended his calling Trump “a genuine danger to American security,” a comment he made during his CBS News interview over the weekend. Asked whether that contradicted his calls to cool heated political rhetoric, Biden shot back: “That’s just a statement. That’s a factual statement.”
-Fritz Farrow
Judge’s ruling means independent Cornel West can appear on North Carolina ballot
Independent presidential candidate Cornel West will be allowed on the general election ballot in North Carolina following a judge’s ruling that reversed a decision that would have kept him off the ballot in the battleground state.
In a ruling on Monday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle ordered the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify Justice for All North Carolina as a political party in the state. That party, started by West’s campaign, is nominating him as its candidate in North Carolina and some other states. The board had previously voted to deny certifying the party over concerns about how signatures were gathered for its petition to become a certified party.
Justice for All North Carolina called the decision a “monumental day for our party” but West’s campaign still faces headwinds. The Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that West’s campaign received “illegal In-Kind Contributions” from firms it used to collect signatures for ballot access petitions in Arizona and North Carolina — allegations West has pushed back on.
“We’ve always said we’re going to ensure the third party candidates are playing by the rules, and it’s clear his campaign isn’t playing by the rules,” DNC spokesperson Matt Corridoni told ABC News after the complaint was filed.
-Oren Oppenheim
Walz to make his 1st solo campaign appearance
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday will embark on his first solo Harris-Walz campaign event as Harris’ running mate with a stop in Los Angeles for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) international convention.
Walz is set to speak at 3:35 p.m. ET.
Walz emerged as a popular candidate among labor unions during Harris’ search for a vice president pick, sources said. AFSCME represents 1.4 million public service members, and the union’s president, Lee Saunders, previously released a statement endorsing Harris for president.
Harris to roll out economic plan on Friday
Harris will outline her economic policy in a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, her campaign announced, making it her first major policy rollout since jumping into the race.
Harris’ speech will detail her plan to “lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging,” a campaign official said.
The vice president has heavily focused her stump speech on the economy while on the campaign trail in recent weeks, saying over the weekend she would look to eliminate taxes on tips earned by service workers — a proposal Trump announced earlier this summer.
Harris’ college sorority creates PAC
The historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., of which Vice President Kamala Harris counts herself a member, started its own political PAC last week, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission posted Monday.
The committee is named Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, the filing shows.
Harris has been an AKA since her days as a student at the historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C. Harris on Monday visited the campus, her office confirmed to ABC News, but it’s not clear why she was there.
In July, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Harris spoke at the AKA’s annual Boulé in Dallas, Texas. Since then, as a candidate, she’s also addressed similar national gatherings of two other historically Black sororities, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho.
Trump says he will return to Butler, Pennsylvania after assassination attempt
After discussing the assassination attempt made against him in Pennsylvania in July, former President Donald Trump said he’s planning a trip back to Butler in October.
“We’re going back to Butler; we’re gonna go back in October,” Trump said, adding, “Butler is a big, great area.”
Addressing what he’ll say when he returns, Trump told Musk, “I think I’ll probably start by saying I was so horribly interrupted.”
Trump discusses assassination attempt with Musk, says he turned head at ‘perfect angle’
During his conversation with Musk, former President Donald Trump addressed the assassination attempt made against him during a campaign rally in July.
“It was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle,” Trump said of the bullet, which grazed his right ear while his head was turned.
During the discussion, Trump mentioned the man who was killed in the shooting, saying, it was a “very sad situation.”
“We lost somebody that was firefighter, a great Trumper,” Trump said of Corey Comperatore, adding, “He was a just a fantastic family [man] and a fantastic man.”
Trump and Musk’s conversation on X appears to be delayed
The conversation between former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk appears to be delayed, with many X users reporting they cannot access the Spaces conversation.
“This Space is not available,” appeared for some users on X.
The conversation was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Judge orders RFK Jr. off New York ballot
A New York judge ruled Monday that the thousands of signatures gathered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign in the state were “invalidated” after a Democrat-aligned group argued he misled voters by listing as his home an address he rarely visits.
The judge, Christina Ryba, ordered the New York Board of Elections to not include Kennedy’s name on the ballot this fall.
A lawyer representing Kennedy told reporters last week they would appeal any ruling that went against them.
The ruling could prompt Democrats to bring similar lawsuits against Kennedy in other states where he gathered signatures from registered voters to appear on the ballot.
The FBI is investigating alleged attempts by Iran to target the then-Biden-Harris campaign, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
The alleged targeting via spear-fishing emails occurred before Biden announced he would exit the 2024 presidential race, the sources said.
While the campaign was targeted, the alleged hack was not successful, sources added.
The FBI is investigating a purported hack of the Trump campaign, according to a brief statement from the agency earlier Monday.
The FBI did not attribute the hack to anyone in its statement.
A source familiar with the matter told ABC News that Trump adviser Roger Stone has also been informed that his email accounts have been compromised, and that he’s cooperating with any investigation into the matter.
The Washington Post first reported the news.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Will Steakin and Katherine Faulders
Biden, Obama, Clintons tentatively slated to speak at DNC: Sources
President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton are all tentatively slated to speak at the Democratic National Convention next week, sources familiar said.
The working speaking schedule, which can always change, is as follows, according to the sources:
Monday: President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday: Former President Barack Obama Wednesday: Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, former President Bill Clinton Thursday: Vice President Kamala Harris
-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks and Fritz Farrow
Trump posts on X ahead of Musk interview
Trump posted on X for the first time in nearly a year ahead of his conversation with Elon Musk scheduled for Monday night.
The video posted is a previously released campaign ad referencing his multiple indictments and telling supporters, “They are not coming after me, they are coming after you.”
The last time Trump posted on X was Aug. 24, 2023. It was a picture of his mugshot from Fulton County, when he turned himself in to authorities following his election interference indictment in Georgia.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim
Trump to be interviewed by Elon Musk tonight
Trump, in a post to his conservative social media site Truth Social, announced he will be interviewed live by Musk on X at 8 p.m. ET.
It will mark a major return for Trump to X, formerly known as Twitter, since he was banned from the site following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump was reinstated in late 2022 but declined to become active on the site again, despite boasting 88 million followers.
Musk endorsed Trump following the July 13 assassination attempt against the former president. Recently, Musk has amplified misinformation about voting and elections on his X feed.
Walz discusses ‘whirlwind’ 1st week on the campaign trail
In a video posted on his X account, the Minnesota governor discussed what he called “not a normal week” since being named as Harris’ running mate.
Walz confirmed some details reported previously by ABC News and others, including that he informed Harris’ vetting team that he had not used a teleprompter before.
“Not a normal week, which is a good thing. Started by missing a call from the Vice President, pretty important one. And then got that call and honored to join the ticket with Kamala Harris to take us in a great direction,” Walz said.
“After that, it has been a whirlwind. We got on a plane and we flew to Philly, and they told me that in an hour I’d be giving a speech and there would be a teleprompter, something I had never used in my life, so certainly terrified, but was lifted up by the folks in Philly.”
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Harris wraps battleground state blitz, Vance makes rounds on Sunday shows
Over the weekend, Harris closed out a cross-country tour that included stops in battleground states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona, as well as North Carolina and Nevada.
New polling released Saturday showed Harris taking the lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin among likely voters. The New York Times/Siena College polls showed Harris at 50% among likely voters in each state, while Trump polled at 46%.
Vance, too, campaigned in key 2024 states and made the rounds on the Sunday shows. During his cable news appearances, Vance reiterated campaign talking points on immigration and repeatedly hit Harris for not sitting down for extensive media interviews and laying out her agenda. Harris has done brief gaggles with reporters and said she’d unveil an economic policy platform this week.
Vance responds to mass deportation plan: ‘Let’s start with one million’
Sen. JD Vance told ABC News he blamed Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration’s policies, such as ending “Remain in Mexico,” for the ongoing migrant crisis.
When asked how he and Trump would accomplish their stated goal of mass deporting as many as 20 million immigrants — a proposal experts previously told ABC News would be a “nightmare” — Vance said they would take a “sequential approach.”
“I mean do you go knock on doors and ask people for their papers? What do you do,” Karl asked.
“You start with what’s achievable,” Vance said. “I think that if you deport a lot of violent criminals and frankly if you make it harder to hire illegal labor, which undercuts the wages of American workers, I think you go a lot of the way to solving the illegal immigration problem.”
“I think it’s interesting that people focus on, well, how do you deport 18 million people? Let’s start with one million. That’s where Kamala Harris has failed. And then we can go from there,” Vance said.
Harris cautions donors to ‘not take anything for granted’
Vice President Kamala Harris attended a fundraiser in San Francisco Sunday where she maintained her campaign “will win this election,” but cautioned donors to “not take anything for granted.”
“I know there’s a lot of enthusiasm out there,” Harris said, adding, “And you know, I’ve never been one to really believe in the polls — whether they’re up or they’re down.”
“What we know is the stakes are so high and we can take nothing for granted in this critical moment,” she continued. “So we will fuel our campaign as we have, with enthusiasm and optimism, but also with a deep commitment to the hard work it’s going to take, and to campaign.”
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi introduced Harris at the event, touting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration and the background of vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, several times calling the Harris-Walz ticket “the freedom ticket.”
“[Harris] makes us all so proud. She brings us so much joy. She gives us so much hope,” Pelosi said, calling the vice president “politically very astute.”