Vice President Kamala Harris held a campaign rally at Temple University alongside her new running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.
Credit: Jean ParkVice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris debuted her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in front of an energized crowd at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Aug. 6.
The full house at Temple University’s 10,000-seat Liacouras Center welcomed the newly completed Democratic ticket with raucous applause and palpable enthusiasm during the two-hour rally. Harris spoke for 30 minutes, introducing her vice presidential pick and laying the foundations for a policy platform, and Walz closed the event with a 15-minute speech.
Despite the short turnaround time resulting from Harris announcing her vice presidential pick just hours before the rally began, nearly every attendee held a sign that read “Harris-Walz.” Attendees were also given LED bracelets — similar to those found at concerts — that flashed in coordinated colors of the American flag throughout the event.
Former President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump held a campaign rally at Temple earlier this summer that drew a crowd of around 4,000 people. The Harris-Walz campaign reported that about 14,000 supporters arrived for the event on Tuesday, resulting in a 4,000-person overflow.
Harris introduced Walz, whom she selected after a weekend of vetting interviews and days of speculation from voters and pundits, as a “leader who will help unite our nation and move us forward” and a “patriot who believes, as [she does], in the extraordinary promise of America.” As she laid out the Minnesota governor’s diverse background and experience, she leaned into his role as a football coach, repeatedly calling him “Coach Walz.”
“Tim Walz was the kind of teacher and mentor that every child in America dreams of having and that every kid deserves,” Harris said. “He’s the kind of coach — because he’s the kind of person — who makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big … and that’s the kind of vice president America deserves.”
As she laid out Walz’s political record, Harris seemed to adopt some of his successes in Minnesota as platform items for her campaign, including promises to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, ban assault weapons, and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.
“Coach Walz and I may hail from different corners of our great country, but our values are the same. And we both believe in lifting people up, not knocking them down,” Harris said. “We are running a campaign on behalf of all Americans. And when elected, we will govern on behalf of all Americans.”
Walz’s speech was supported by thunderous applause that at times made his words inaudible. He opened by thanking Harris for “bringing back the joy.”
The Minnesota governor leaned into his midwestern roots and appealed to rural voters as he introduced his personal and professional background.
“Minnesota’s strength comes from our values, our commitment to working together, to seeing past our differences, to always being willing to lend a helping hand,” Walz said. “Those are the same values I learned on the family farm and tried to instill in my students. I took it to Congress and to the state capitol, and now, Vice President Harris and I are running to take those very values to the White House.”
In his attacks on the GOP, Walz zeroed in on ideas of Trump’s selfishness and the Republican party’s hypocrisy.
“In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: Mind your own damn business,” Walz said on the issue of reproductive healthcare access.
He also highlighted Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance’s claims of having a blue-collar background.
“Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, J.D. studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community. … That’s not what middle America is,” Walz said. “I’ve got to tell you, I can’t wait to debate the guy. That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
Several Pennsylvania Democratic officials delivered endorsement speeches prior to Harris and Walz’s remarks, highlighting the need for grassroots efforts and encouraging voter mobilization until Election Day.
Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison began the event with an energetic endorsement, calling the pair “the future of our party and the future of our nation.”
Philadelphia Mayor and 2016 Fels Institute of Government graduate Cherelle Parker also delivered remarks and received thunderous applause as she highlighted the potential local and city-wide impacts of the presidential election.
“Pennsylvania picks the President,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said, emphasizing the importance of the state’s electoral votes in determining the election results.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) — who is currently up for re-election — spent much of his speech appealing to the Democratic audience as a candidate and disparaging his Trump-endorsed opponent David McCormick.
Pennsylvania Gov. and ex-officio Penn Trustee Josh Shapiro — who was one of two final contenders for the vice presidential spot — gave one of the most anticipated speeches of the evening. After Harris announced her running mate, Shapiro released a statement endorsing Walz, adding that there’s “a lot more stuff [he] want[s] to get done for the good people of this Commonwealth” during his time as governor.
In his 20-minute speech at the rally, Shapiro described Trump’s first term as “more chaos, fewer jobs, and less freedom.”
“I am going to continue to pour my heart and soul into serving you every single day as your governor,” Shapiro said. “And I’m going to be working my tail off to make sure we make Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the next leaders of the United States of America.”
Shapiro also made note of his faith, which had been at the forefront of conversations around his vice presidential viability, during his remarks.
Some voters have spoken out against Shapiro’s past comments about Israel and pro-Palestinian protests. Republicans were also quick to point out that Shapiro’s religion could have been what kept him from being selected for the spot.
During a campaign stop in Philadelphia earlier on Tuesday, Vance claimed that Shapiro had to “run away from his Jewish heritage” during the vetting process.
“I want to just say this: I lean on my family, and I lean on my faith, which calls me to serve. And I am proud of my faith,” Shapiro said.
The Daily Pennsylvanian previously reported that Shapiro’s strong stance on Israel, his handling of antisemitism and pro-Palestinian protests, particularly on Penn’s campus, and his actions against the Gaza Solidarity Encampment were under scrutiny on the national stage. Shapiro has been extensively involved at Penn during his tenure as governor, including funding issues involving the School of Veterinary Medicine and advocating for reproductive rights.
Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee following President and former Penn professor Joe Biden’s decision to concede the presidential nomination on July 21. Shortly after the announcement, Biden endorsed Harris to be the nominee, writing that selecting her as his vice president in 2020 was “the best decision [he’s] made.”
Harris and Walz will continue on the campaign trail this week.
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