Tim Walz Mocks JD Vance In Battle of Midwestern VP Picks at Philly Rally

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has questioned JD Vance’s credentials as a Midwesterner at his first rally as Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick.

Officially introduced by Harris as “the kind of vice president America deserves,” Walz is a former high school social studies teacher, football coach, and army veteran who was born and raised in the Midwest.

In his introductory speech, Walz told the audience about his background and alluded to Vance positioning himself as a man of the people, appearing to mock that suggestion.

“Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community. Come on! That’s not what middle America is, and I got to tell you, I can’t wait to debate the guy,” he said.

Senator Vance, an author, lawyer, and Marine veteran, was born in Ohio and like Walz, has family roots in the Midwest.

In his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance delved into his childhood in Middletown, Ohio, and family history of Appalachian values.

The memoir was made into a feature film in 2020 starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.

As Walz highlighted, Vance did attend Yale Law School, graduating in 2013, and briefly worked as a corporate lawyer and later venture capitalist in San Francisco.

Walz’ speech comparing the two Midwesterners has sparked an online debate about the candidates, and their personas as individuals from the heartland.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, user Corey Richardson posted, “Tim Walz really is that guy at Home Depot that you don’t know that spends 20-30 minutes randomly explaining to you why you need to use hex bolts for your project. JD Vance is the guy berating the cashier at Panera for not giving him a refill on his lemonade. That’s the difference.”

His post went viral, receiving 84,000 likes and 11,000 reposts.

Another user, Mike Scollins, appeared to poke fun at Walz’ speech comparing himself and Vance to see who is the most Midwestern, writing, “‘I’m from Minnesota– I like the Vikings. JD Vance? Well he likes the Dolphins. I’m just sayin folks I’m just sayin!!'”

Since Harris’ announcement that she chose Walz as her running mate, a campaign spokesperson told The Independent that supporters have donated another $20 million to the campaign.

Walz, 60, is known for passing police reform legislation in 2020, pushing for gun regulation and universal background checks, codifying abortion rights, and providing free school lunches to children in Minnesota.

He began his political career as a member of the House of Representatives from Minnesota’s first district in 2007, and ran for Governor of Minnesota in 2018.

In her announcement about her running mate, Harris referred to Walz as “a fighter for the middle class and patriot who believes in the promise of America,” and has since framed their campaign as a “fight for our future” at the Philadelphia rally.

Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.