On Friday, Minnesota first lady Lady Gwen Walz stepped fully into the national spotlight during her first solo campaign appearance since her husband, Gov. Tim Walz, became the Democratic vice presidential nominee earlier this month.
The “Educators for Harris-Walz” event, held in Manassas, Virginia, played perfectly to Walz’s strengths. A former teacher like her husband, Walz was clearly at home among her peers, who gave her a warm welcome before she got down to business.
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll start any day with the teachers,” Walz said after acknowledging that this was her first solo event on the campaign trail. “So you all might have some feedback for me. Right? So make sure you get that to us, so I can get better as I go along. And next time I come back to Virginia, you all will see my improvement. Okay? Yeah. Yeah. It is such a joy to be with you.”
Walz also got personal with the group.
“For a long time, Tim and I were teachers who struggled with infertility, and we were only able to start a family because of fertility treatments. So this is really personal for me, and I think it is for millions of Americans.” Walz said before bringing up her husband’s opponent.
“We do not take kindly to folks like JD Vance telling us when or how to start our families.”
“So let me use my ‘teacher voice,’” Walz said. She put on her reading glasses to take on Sen. Vance and his attacks on Americans without—and with—children.
“English teachers, you know what these babies are for,” she joked about her glasses. “Mr. Vance, how about you mind your own business?” She then rallied the crowd to repeat her firm order to Trump’s running mate with her.
Walz then shifted to Republican Donald Trump’s latest attempts at revising his and his party’s long history of anti-reproductive rights stances, statements, and policies.
“In the classroom, we believe in telling the truth, right? So here are the facts—and there aren’t any alternatives to these. Donald Trump is the one who took down Roe and put access to IVF at risk. That’s a fact. And he’s running on a platform that puts these treatments at risk nationwide. And that’s a fact. But he knows that that position is wildly unpopular, and guess what? That’s a fact.” Walz said, as the crowd began to join her in the repeated phrase.
“So now he is trying to convince us that he won’t follow through on it if he wins. Well, we won’t let him get away with it, right? And that’s a fact. So no matter how many false promises they make, we know that Donald Trump and JD Vance simply cannot be trusted. They can’t. … And that’s a fact. Thank you!”
No, Mrs. Walz, thank you!
