CHICAGO, Illinois — Tim Walz promised a “joyous” Democratic National Convention in a lightning round of brief speeches Monday morning—pointedly not mentioning Donald Trump or JD Vance.
“What we’re going to show America over the next three days is what democracy looks like,” he said in his very first appearance at the event, a breakfast for delegates from Wisconsin. “It’s joyous, it’s inclusive.
“We understand what the alternative is. That doesn’t motivate people. It’s not just beating those guys. It’s about setting a course for our future that’s brighter for everyone.”
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The tone appeared a pointed contrast to a weekend of all-in attacks by Donald Trump on the Democratic campaign and particularly on Kamala Harris, who the former president labeled a “Communist,” and said he was “a better-looking person” than in a combination of rally comments and a storm of posts on his Truth social.
Walz had a more low-key audience than his previous rallies as the vice-presidential candidate when he addressed the Wisconsin Democratic delegates.
Mini Racker/The Daily BeastUntil two weeks ago, Walz would not have been the star of the convention, but that’s exactly what he was when he kicked off the week at 8:15 a.m. on Monday morning.
“You know Minnesotans well in this room,” the Minnesota governor said during a surprise appearance at the Wisconsin delegate breakfast. “It’s been an interesting 11 days or so.”
The audience reaction, however, was anything but quiet. The enthusiasm for Walz in the ballroom at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk marked a stark contrast to the polite applause earned by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who had been a much bigger name than Walz just weeks before.
“You know he’s kicking me off the stage for a good reason,” Schumer said when Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler hopped up to the lectern to interrupt his speech.
Walz, who does not use a teleprompter, pulled out a sheet of paper for a small part of his speech, apparently using it to reference some eye-popping numbers the campaign has achieved since Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee: 602,000 phone calls, 185,000 doors knocked.
But there was one number he didn’t need notes to remember to mention—12,000, the number of people who showed up at his rally with Harris in Eau Claire early this month.
He also joked about making his first-ever visit to a Sheetz on a bus tour of Western Pennsylvania the day before.
“They didn’t realize how high the bar is with a Kwik Trip guy,” Walz said. In the next breakfast he went to, for the Pennsylvania delegates, Walz got laughs and boos and shouts of “Wawa” when he delivered the same line.
Unlike the megarallies the Democratic ticket has hosted so far, this gathering was low-key with no metal detectors. Walz was among friends. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers blew him a kiss when he took the stage, and later embraced him as the crowd chanted “Tim!”
Wikler told the Daily Beast that calling the last 11 days "interesting" was one of Walz’s signature Midwesternisms.
“When you say it’s been interesting, you mean this has been one of the most head-spinning, mind-blowing 11-day stretches in any human lifetime,” Wikler said. “When the intensity goes up, we bring our rhetoric down in the Midwest.”
During the short speech, Walz hit the points he has on the campaign trail, focusing on joy and hope, while emphasizing that hope alone is not a plan.
Wikler told the Daily Beast that, while he didn’t know for sure, his impression was that it was Walz’s idea to show up. In fact, Wikler didn’t know that the VP nominee would speak until he received a call from the governor’s team early Monday morning.
“For me, the first word was a phone call that came before I was awake,” Wikler said.
