Former President Donald Trump’s campaign criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for implicitly criticizing his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), at the Democratic National Convention.
Walz, who formally accepted the Democratic vice presidential nomination on Wednesday night, spoke at Chicago’s United Center, recounting his Midwestern upbringing.
“I grew up in Butte, Nebraska, a town of 400 people. I had 24 kids in my high school class, and not one of them went to Yale,” Waltz said, drawing laughter from the audience. “But when you grow up in a small town like that, you learn to care for each other.” The family down the street may not think the same way you do. They may not pray the same way you do. They may not love the same way you do. But they are your neighbors, and you care about them, and they care about you.”
The Trump War Room X account posted a clip of Waltz speaking about Yale University, where Vance attended law school.
Veteran Republicans wrote scathing letters to Walz calling his reputation “stolen,” while the Trump campaign blasted “Timothy the Crazy One.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Waltz: ‘I had 24 students in my high school class and not one went to Yale,'” the Trump War Room noted, adding, “What a weird boast!”
Vance is the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” a memoir about his time at Yale Law School, which is being adapted into a film for Netflix, about growing up in the Appalachian countryside. Vance, who made his debut as Trump’s running mate at the Republican National Convention, candidly spoke about being raised by his grandmother. He said his grandmother was strict and kept him off drugs, and that he bartered with Meals on Wheels volunteers to help him eat when he was young. Vance, who is said to have won the support of the Midwestern working class in the Rust Belt, also spoke about his mother’s long struggle with drug addiction, who has now been sober for almost 10 years.
Vance enlisted in the Marines straight out of high school in Middletown, Ohio, and went on to college at Ohio State University and then Yale Law School.
Republican vice presidential nominee Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio addresses the crowd at a campaign rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 20, 2024. (Andy Manis/Getty Images)
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Fox News host Martha MacCallum asked Vance to respond to Waltz’s reference to Yale, suggesting that Waltz viewed Vance as an “Ivy League snob.”
“I grew up very poor. My grandmother raised me and she never graduated from high school, much less college,” Vance responded. “I’m proud of how hard she worked. She fought until the day she died to give me a chance. I’m not ashamed of the sacrifices she made for me so I could live the American dream. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and, more importantly, I’m proud of all the people who sacrificed to give me a better life.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 21, 2024. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
“I think Tim Walz wants to celebrate the people who sacrificed to give our children and grandchildren a better life, not disparage me, but this is the political climate we live in,” Vance added. “He’s going to attack me, and that’s OK, but I’m proud of my family, and I’m proud of the sacrifices they made to make my life possible.”
By comparison, Waltz enlisted in the Army National Guard at age 17 and served for 24 years.
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He has recently been accused of having his honor stolen by other veterans after it was reported he chose to retire to run for Congress, even though his unit was due to deploy to Afghanistan just months later.
According to his congressional biography, Mr. Waltz earned a bachelor of science degree from Chadron State College in Nebraska. A former high school teacher from Minnesota, Mr. Waltz is not without Ivy League ties himself: He taught high school in China from 1989 to 1990 as part of a government-sponsored group of American educators sent to Communist China through a Harvard University program.
