Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) drew yet another large audience with Vice President Harris during a campaign stop in Arizona on Friday, where he mocked former President Trump.
Speaking to a crowd of about 15,000 in Phoenix, Walz praised the crowd and noted that a similar crowd had turned out for a campaign rally in Detroit the previous day.
“But Arizona can’t just let it go,” Waltz said. “Nobody cares about crowd size.”
Harris’ campaign has drawn larger crowds this week than any Democrat has drawn at any point during the election so far, a sign of enthusiasm for the vice president’s run for the White House after President Biden withdrew his candidacy.
The size of Harris’ rallies, and the media coverage they generate, appears to have irritated Trump, who regularly draws thousands to his campaign rallies.
Asked at a press conference on Thursday if he was worried about the size of Harris’ rallies, Trump said, “I’m not kidding.”
“Look, I had 107,000 supporters in New Jersey and you didn’t report that. I’m so glad you asked. Did you have 2,000 yesterday?” Trump continued. “If I had 2,000 supporters, I would say my campaign is over.”
Friday marked Harris’ first visit to Arizona and the Sun Belt region since she launched her presidential campaign following President Biden’s decision not to seek reelection. She was accompanied by Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who is running for Senate, and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who was Harris’ final running mate for vice presidential nomination.
Kelly, a military veteran, blamed Trump for attacks by some Republicans over Walz’s military service, which he served in the National Guard for 24 years but left for several months to run for office before his unit was deployed overseas.
“Trump calls those who have served in the military idiots and losers and has zero respect for those of us who wear the uniform,” Kelly said. “And here in Arizona, we will not attack those who have served our country.”
Trump won Arizona by about 3 percentage points in 2016 but lost to Biden by about 11,000 votes in 2020.
