Tim Walz Champions Unity and Responsibility at Chicago Convention, Taking Aim at Trump’s Agenda

He took the stage at the Chicago Arena to accept the party’s nomination and claimed to be part of the “right team”. He used American football sports metaphors to ensure: “We are on the attack and we have the ball. We are running down the field and we have the right team.”

“Kamala Harris is tough, Kamala Harris is experienced, and Kamala Harris is ready.”

Tim Walz spoke of the past and the small town where he grew up, Butte, Nebraska, with 400 inhabitants, a small town where tolerance is essential to respect the neighbors. “We have a golden rule. Mind your own business.

With an eye on the conservative manifesto backed by Trump’s allies, Project 2025, Walz talked about freedom: “That’s what it’s about, the responsibility we have to our children, to each other, and to the future we are building together, in which everyone is free to build the kind of life they desire (…) the Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people just trying to live their lives.”“Some people just don’t understand what it takes to be a good neighbor. Look at Donald Trump and JD Vance.”

The former American football coach pulled from his sleeve the experience he has in pep talks. “You may not know, but I haven’t given many important speeches like this, but I’ve given a lot of motivational talks”.

Cândida Pinto and Ricardo Guerreiro – RTP correspondents in the USA

At the party convention, Tim Walz called for all efforts in the race for the White House: “We’ll sleep when we’re dead; we will leave everything on the field.”

Present at the convention, Bill Clinton (made his 12th consecutive speech at a Democratic Convention) hailed Harris as “extraordinary” and said of Donald Trump that “he creates chaos.”

Photo: Reuters

The former American president warned the Democrats: “We’ve seen more than one election slip away when we thought it couldn’t happen”.

Clinton mocked Trump for his narcissism and obsession with crowd size, citing Barack Obama’s joke on Tuesday. “[Trump] mainly talks about himself, his grievances, conspiracies”.

Photo: Reuters

Oprah Winfrey was the surprise of the night. She received much applause, referencing Trump and his supporters, reminding “people who want to convince us that books are dangerous and that guns are safe”.