Many Americans had not heard of Tim Walz until Kamala Harris chose him for her candidacy, and the speech accepting the vice-presidential nomination in front of a full stadium at the Democratic National Convention was an opportunity for him to introduce himself. He leaned on his experience as a high school football coach, his time in the National Guard, and his family's fertility issues.
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The governor of Minnesota took advantage of his speech at the DNC (Democratic National Convention) to thank the crowded United Center in Chicago for "bringing joy" to an election transformed by the selection of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
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"We are all here tonight for a beautiful and simple reason: We love this country," said Walz to thousands of delegates carrying signs that read "Coach Walz" in red, white, and blue.
The reason for Tim Walz's nomination
Although it was not clear if his intervention will attract new voters, it further captivated Democratic supporters with his story and helped balance Harris' coastal roots as a cultural representative of the central-northern region of the country, votes that the Democratic candidate will need in November.
Harris' campaign pointed out that Walz had worked for days on his speech and used a teleprompter for the first time, rehearsing beforehand to make sure he was prepared. "I haven't given many speeches like this, but I have given many motivational talks," Walz told the crowd.
Walz described his childhood in Nebraska, his work as a teacher and American football coach in Minnesota, and told the attendees: "Thank you for bringing joy to this battle."
Drawing an analogy with his past as a coach in high school, he said, “we are in the fourth quarter, we are down by a field goal, but we are on the offensive, we have the ball in our hands and we are going down the field.” The crowd responded by shouting “coach, coach, coach.”
What are the main criticisms of Tim Walz?
Walz has been accused of embellishing his past. This week, his wife clarified that she did not undergo in vitro fertilization, as the governor has stated on several occasions, but rather resorted to other fertility treatments.
The vice presidential candidate has made the fertility issues in his family a central part of his narrative, a tangible way to connect with voters alarmed by the erosion of reproductive rights in the United States. But Gwen Walz explained in detail in a statement on Tuesday her experience, and revealed that they resorted to a different process known as intrauterine insemination.
"If you have never experienced infertility, I guarantee you know someone who has," Tim Walz stated on Wednesday. His daughter, Hope, made a heart with her hands and placed it on her chest, while his son, Gus, who openly cried during the speech from the front row, exclaimed through tears, "that's my father."