Walz joins Kamala Harris for ‘Freedom Rally’ at Milwaukee site of RNC

MILWAUKEE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz delivered a rousing pregame pep talk for his presidential running mate of three weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris, telling a cheering, singing and dancing crowd that “something’s happening.”

“For the young folks in here, something’s happening, and it all begins with Kamala Harris,” the widely grinning governor told 15,000 from a stage at the center of the Fiserv Forum arena, home of the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA.

“We’ve got to turn the page on these guys,” Walz said, referring to the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. The message wasn’t subtle, coming from the site of the Republican National Convention in July. The location, combined with the hundreds of “freedom” signs throughout the arena, poked at and contrasted with the GOP.

The enthusiasm soared as supporters lifted their arms, their wrists encircled by lighted bracelets they received upon arrival. A DJ spun pop music nonstop that had the entire house dancing and singing for hours to everything from Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” and Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!″

The event occurred some 90 miles north of the Democratic National Convention at Chicago’s United Center where the ceremonial state-by-state roll call occurred and was shown on the giant screens above the arena.

Walz spoke for about 15 minutes in the heart of the electoral swing state. When Harris came out later, he stood on stage, still grinning and clapping as she talked about the freedom to vote, to be safe from gun violence and to love whom you choose.

“We carry the baton and so much is on the line in this election,” Harris said, alleging that Trump has “openly vowed to be a dictator on Day One.”

The Milwaukee crowd frequently burst into spontaneous chants of, “We’re not going back” and “U-S-A.”

In his remarks, Walz said Trump and Vance are “trying to hide what they’re doing.” As a former football coach, Walz said he knows that “if you’re going to take the time to draw up a playbook, you plan on using it.”

He referred to the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. The plan would “rig the economy for those at the top and screw the people at the bottom,” Walz said.

Walz said that Minnesotans respect their neighbors’ choices “because we live by that golden rule: Mind your own damn business,” he said.

He turned his attention to Vance and their upcoming debate. “Here’s where I find my joy,” Walz said. “On Oct. 1, he and I are gonna have a little talk on the same stage.”

He said they all need to work for the next ”77 days to change the world. We are not waking up on that 78th day ... without knowing we left it all on the field.”

Also on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump, as part of a battleground campaign swing designed to counter the DNC, stood alongside sheriff’s deputies in the Howell, Mich., and labeled Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, as the “ringleader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country.

“Kamala Harris will deliver crime, chaos, destruction and death,” Trump said in one of many generalizations about an America under Harris. “You’ll see levels of crime that you’ve never seen before. ... I will deliver law, order, safety and peace.”

“Our policemen and women have the backs of law-abiding citizens every day,” Trump said. “When we go back to the White House, you’re going to see support the likes of which you haven’t seen, certainly in four years.”

Back in Milwaukee, friends Stella Druck, 18, and Ava Blair, 17, both of Milwaukee, wore matching T-shirts that read, “Empowered women, empower women” and had identical camouflage campaign baseball caps with Harris-Walz in orange stitching.

Druck, who is headed to the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities to study politics next week, said, “I think women should have bodily autonomy.”

Blair said politics are important in her family, especially for her grandfather who is gay and her parents who are educators and worry about gun safety. Both teenagers like that Walz is a veteran and a teacher. “It sounds bad, but I think he’s funny,” Blair said, mentioning videos with his daughter, Hope.

Attending with her own daughter, Julietta McKoy, 8, was Angela McKoy, a chemistry professor in Wheaton, Ill. The two wore matching pink Harris T-shirts. “I wanted to come see Kamala for the first time,” Julietta said with a big smile.

Her mom added, “We’re pumped. This is our chance, our opportunity to see the first woman president.” McKoy described herself as “pro-life” but added, “I don’t trust the Republicans with my body or anybody’s body.”

McKoy said she likes what she’s seen so far in Walz. “He seems like a nice person,” she said, adding that she likes how he understands his supporting role to Harris.

Also at the event with her son was Alyson Weiss, 47, an educator from Racine. Son Mason Eisch, 17, said he’s an aspiring teacher who likes that Walz went from teaching social studies to Congress and that he considers the governor “down-to-earth.”

Eisch won’t be able to vote this year, but his mom said he can in four years, “For her re-election.”