On Wednesday night, during the Democratic National Convention, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, declared their intention to “move beyond the Trump era.”
In his speech after receiving the Democratic nomination for vice president, Walz emphasized that his team offers a superior choice for America. His speech was infused with vigor, reflecting on his diverse roles as a teacher, football coach and member of the National Guard.
“Public school teachers should never be underestimated,” Walz noted, noting his educational background.
Walz shared a deeply personal struggle he and his wife, Gwen, have faced: their battle with infertility. “For Gwen and me, this is a deeply personal struggle. Even if you’ve never experienced infertility yourself, chances are you know someone who has,” he said. He described the emotional rollercoaster of waiting for hopeful news and despair when treatments failed, events that spanned several years.
He linked his personal narrative to broader themes of freedom in the electoral context, criticizing Republican interpretations of the term. “Republicans often imagine a world in which the government meddles in personal medical decisions, corporations pollute freely, and banks exploit consumers without restraint,” Walz criticized.
Instead, he defined democratic freedom as the freedom to improve one’s life, to make independent choices about health care, and to ensure that schools are safe, violence-free environments.
