Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) on Monday praised Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) for being selected as Harris’ running mate, but said he was “really surprised” to see his former congressional colleague on the national shortlist.
“I was really surprised that he was even on the radar for vice president of the United States and that he was selected, because it’s very rare that you get someone so genuinely kind and not a big talker or a pretentious self-promoter to get this far politically in this country,” O’Rourke said on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
“He’s a really good guy and that’s the rare breed of person who has been successful by getting the job done,” O’Rourke added.
O’Rourke and Walz served together in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019, and O’Rourke ran alongside Harris in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
“As governor of Minnesota, he made sure kids could learn on a full stomach,” O’Rourke said. “He decriminalized marijuana. He’s not going to send people to jail for something that’s legal in most other parts of the country.”
Last weekend, O’Rourke praised the campaigns of Harris and Walz.
“Instead of hate, there’s hope,” O’Rourke said of the Democratic candidate in an interview with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on Friday.
He said he was “proud” of the Democratic vice presidential candidates for “seizing this moment and rising above to some extent what’s been concocted in the political laboratory and in the corporate side of politics.”
After President Biden dropped out of the race, Walz was reported to be a finalist to join Harris, defeating Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
Before entering politics, the Minnesota governor served in the National Guard for 24 years and was also a high school teacher and football coach.
