Why Tim Walz Got Booed During First Rally As Vice Presidential Candidate
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has now been fully thrust into the national spotlight, joining the ticket as Kamala Harris's running mate in the 2024 Presidential Election.
Hours after being announced as Harris's pick for Vice President, Walz left the Land of 10,000 Lakes to join his new ticket mate at their first rally event together.
The event, which was full of party loyalists and Harris voters, was largely excited to have her and Walz making an appearance together. Despite that excitement and what you'd think would be a friendly environment for Walz as he makes his national debut, he managed to draw some boos from the crowd.
Now, don't get me wrong, he also got a lot of cheers and even some laughs. That said, it wasn't all 100% positive feedback from the crowd.
Then why did Tim Walz get booed during his rally?
In a politically friendly environment, you wouldn't think a candidate would get booed. While it was limited to one particular comment, Walz ended up making a comment that didn't land too well with the crowd.
The first thing to know is where the rally was held. Far from Walz's Minnesota home, he and Harris went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for their first rally together. At this rally, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro offered opening remarks. Shapiro was also a finalist in the "veepstakes", with Walz ultimately beating him out for the role.
While this might seem a little awkward, Shapiro had nice things to say about Walz, and Walz had nice things to say about Shapiro. Walz explained that he and Shapiro are friends, declaring how he's seen him just being a normal person while they went to a Bruce Springsteen concert together.
In the quick comment, Walz mentioned that the concert was in "Jersey", a rival location across state lines. The comment can be heard at the 1:22 mark in the video below. Initially, the crowd cheered, then a number of members in the crowd started to boo.
Not everyone agrees that these boo-birds were actually disapproving of the comment. Someone on X suggested that perhaps they were saying "Bruuuuuuuce" in approval of Springsteen, and not booing.
I don't know that I personally believe that, but it's hard to tell from seeing it on TV. It seems a little bit like this classic Simpsons moment to me.
At least he wasn't booed from the get-go being Governor of the state that is home to the Vikings deep in Eagles territory.