Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, made his first solo campaign rally in California, speaking before one of the country’s most prominent labor unions.
“The Vice President and I know very well who built this country. It was the nurses who built it, the teachers who built it, the state and local government workers who built it. The people in this room built the middle class,” Walz said in a speech to members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the nation’s most powerful public employee unions.
The trip marked Waltz’s first solo visit since being tapped to join Democratic nominee Harris, although the two have mostly been working together since the announcement last month.
Governor Walz touted his record as a supporter of unions, recalling his time as a member of a “fair wage” teachers union and his record as governor of making it easier for workers to bargain collectively.
Former Waltz Battalion leader releases scathing message about Governor’s military record: Report
Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. (Glenn Stubb/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
“When I took the opportunity to come here and express my gratitude, they shared with me a fact: I happen to be the first union member to run for president since Ronald Reagan,” Walz said, “but rest assured, I won’t get lost.”
While the stop in heavily Democratic California may not be considered a campaign highlight, AFSCME members from across the country were there to meet and then hear from the nation’s future vice presidential nominee.
The union has 1.5 million members, mostly state and local government employees, according to NPR, and represents a powerful demographic that Harris’ campaign is hoping to solidify.
Since joining the campaign trail with the vice president, Walz has touted Harris’ working-class credentials and brought a Midwestern, blue-collar feel to the campaign.
“It’s very simple: She stands with the American people and the American worker,” Walz said at a rally in Michigan last week.
While most labor unions have traditionally supported Democratic candidates, former President Donald Trump has sought to reach out to the country’s blue-collar workers and union members, particularly in the Rust Belt battleground states that will determine the outcome of the election.
Throughout his campaign, the former president made his case to the nation’s workers, targeting hospitality workers by promising to pass legislation to end tip taxes.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) and Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz gesture during a campaign rally at the Thomas and Mack Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 10, 2024. (Rhonda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images)
Walz’s ‘defamation’ accusation sparks a fight among House members
Meanwhile, Harris made a similar pledge last week to try to win over the same voters, but the Harris-Waltz pair won the support of the hospitality workers union UNITE HERE.
“It’s unfortunate that union leaders continue to be puppets of the Democratic Party and completely out of touch with the workers they are supposed to represent,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in response to the news.
The Trump campaign’s efforts to appeal to working-class voters were also reflected in its selection of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as its running mate, who has made extensive outreach to workers in the Rust Belt region to drum up support for the Republican candidate.
“In my town in Ohio, in neighboring Pennsylvania, in neighboring Michigan, in every state in this country, our jobs were shipped overseas and our children were sent to war,” Vance said in a speech at the Republican National Convention.
“To the people of Middletown, Ohio, and to forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and every corner of this country, I promise you this,” he continued. “I will be a vice president who never forgets where I come from.”
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) speaks at a campaign event in Glendale, Arizona, Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jay C. Hong)
Click here to get the FOX News app
Meanwhile, cracks are beginning to appear in the relationship between Democrats and labor unions, most notably after Teamsters Chairman Sean O’Brien became the first union leader to speak at the Republican National Convention and made a rare public statement of support for the Republican candidate.
“We’re not beholden to anybody, to any political party,” O’Brien said. “We just want to know one thing: What are you doing to help the American worker?”
Still, Walz expressed optimism that American workers will ultimately side with him and Harris in November.
“The only thing those two know about working people is how to take advantage of them,” he said, referring to Trump and Vance. “Every time they get the chance, they’ve waged war on workers and their right to collective bargaining.”
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
