Walz Launches Five-State Fundraising Campaign in Los Angeles, Warns Trump Will Declare ‘War’ on Workers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In his first solo appearance as the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz Enthusiastic union members warned Tuesday that Donald Trump would declare war on workers and threaten Medicare and Social Security as he launched a five-state fundraising campaign.
Speaking in a cavernous, dimly lit ballroom to thousands of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — many wearing green union T-shirts and waving Harris-Walz signs — Walz said he and Vice President Kamala Harris wanted to expand collective bargaining and other worker protections to “every state in the union.”
The union, which has 1.4 million members, has endorsed Harris.
“When unions are strong, America is strong,” said Walz, a former school teacher and union member.
He warned of a bleak future for unions if Trump and Ohio Senator… JD Vance are elected, describing a nation where bargaining rights, overtime and other protections would be scuttled. He said Trump and Vance have “declared war on working people.”
“The only thing these two guys know about workers is how to work to take advantage of them,” Walz said.
But Trump has also sought to win support from unions. When he accepted the Republican nomination, he said he would save the auto industry from what he called “total annihilation.”
The Democratic campaign has chosen to launch Walz’s national campaign in the safest political terrain: Democratic-majority California, home to Vice President Kamala Harris and where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by two to one. The last Republican to win a presidential election in the state was George H.W. Bush in 1988, and Republican candidates have not bothered to run seriously in the state that offers the largest reservoir of electoral votes since 2000.
Walz was scheduled to attend a fundraiser in Newport Beach later Tuesday. On Wednesday, he will speak to fundraisers in Denver and Boston, then wrap up his trip Thursday in Newport, Rhode Island, and Southampton, New York.
Walz’s focus on fundraising this week comes after he stormed a series of key states with Harris last week to introduce themselves to voters nationwide. Both held rallies in PennsylvaniaWisconsin, Michigan, Arizona And Nevada.
The event series will feature Walz in a typical vice presidential candidate role, part fundraiser, part partisan flamethrower.
Introducing himself to voters who likely know little — if anything — about the outspoken, uncle-like governor, Walz echoed remarks he made during previous appearances in Nevada and Arizona after Harris announced he would join her on the ticket.
Those speeches centered around key themes for Democrats in 2024: support for abortion rights, elevating the middle class and characterizing Trump as “weird” — a line of attack Walz originated.
In his speech to a union convention, he paid tribute to American workers, declaring at one point that he was the first union member on a presidential ticket since Republican Ronald Reagan. But unlike the former Democrat Reagan, he promised, “I will not stray.”
Walz was apparently unaware Trump was also a member of the Screen Actors Guild before resigning in 2021. But during a discussion about government spending, Trump on Monday praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk for firing workers who went on strike, telling him, “You’re the best cutter.”
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Walz also defended his military background, which has been criticized by Republicans. “I’m very proud of my service to this country,” he said, and praised Vance for his time in the military.
Although he appeared in California, Walz avoided any mention of the state’s long-standing problems, which include a homelessness crisis, some of the highest taxes in the country and high housing prices that have been blamed for sending residents to other states in search of more affordable living.
In a statement, California Republican Party Chair Jessica Millan Patterson said residents “know all too well the ramifications of the far-left policies Harris advocates.”
