In NC, Tim Walz and Bill Clinton praise Kamala Harris, contrast her with Trump
Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and former President Bill Clinton traveled to Durham Thursday on the first day of early voting in North Carolina. And Clinton will be back in the Triangle on Sunday for what the campaign calls a block party in Raleigh.
Clinton said at a rally at the Community Family Life & Recreation Center at Lyon Park that former Republican President Donald Trump has “become kind of a crazy conspiracy theorist.”
He contrasted vice president and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris with Trump, saying that another Trump administration is “four more years of chaos.”
“Which candidate will take us forward, and which will take us back?” Clinton asked the crowd.
Walz touted his middle-class background, talked about himself and Harris both being gun owners, and said Trump “can’t pass a background check.”
Walz said Republicans in Congress won’t stand up to Trump, urging supporters to go vote. “Who would have ever thought we’d see Bernie Sanders, Dick Cheney and Taylor Swift” all endorsing Harris, he asked, to laughter from the crowd.
He told the crowd that “the economy works best when it’s fair and focuses on the middle class.”
Walz, Clinton and N.C. Central University student Devin Freeman took the stage together shortly after 4 p.m. Freeman rallied the crowd, saying that Harris and Walz have a “vision for the future, one where we’re all able to achieve our version of the American dream.”
Clinton praised Harris for choosing Walz as her running mate as her first major action as a candidate. Clinton also made light of his own advanced age, noting that he’s only two months younger than Trump.
Clinton and Trump are both 78.
Walz visits Durham
Earlier in the day, Walz recorded interviews with radio stations in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Walz’ plane landed shortly after 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, where he was greeted by a group that included state Sen. Mike Woodard of Durham and two county Democratic Party chairs, Steve Rawson of Durham County and Cassie Rice of Orange County.
Walz then stopped at a campaign field office downtown on East Chapel Hill Street, where he thanked volunteers packing supplies for Hurricane Helene relief. The Minnesota governor told the group that a disaster like Helene brings out the best in people.
The Lyon Park center is in Durham’s West End. The rally was being held in the gym, with a crowd of hundreds of supporters, including local officials like Durham County Commissioner Wendy Jacobs, state Rep. Julie von Haefen and Durham City Council member Javiera Caballero. On the street outside the center, a protester held a handmade sign that said “Ceasefire Now.”
At a Winston-Salem stop later Thursday, Walz was to be joined by musical artist and activist Common, according to the campaign. Walz’ airplane departed RDU around 6:30 p.m.
This marks Walz’ third campaign visit to North Carolina as Harris’ running mate, with the first two in Asheville and Raleigh.
The latest Quinnipiac University Poll, released Wednesday, shows Harris with just a 2-point lead over Republican nominee and Trump among likely North Carolina voters. The slim margin makes the race “too close to call,” according to pollsters.
Upcoming Clinton events
Also set to be in Durham on Thursday, but not part of the campaign event, was Hillary Clinton for a long-scheduled event at the Durham Performing Arts Center. Author John Grisham was scheduled to talk with Clinton on stage about a wide range of topics. Clinton was the Democratic nominee for president in 2016 and former secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York.
In Bill Clinton’s rally speech, he defended his wife over Trump’s focus on her emails during the 2016 presidential campaign. At one point during his speech, someone in the crowd yelled out, “We love Hillary!”
Bill Clinton will move on to a Harris-Walz campaign bus tour of Eastern North Carolina, with stops on Friday and Saturday in Wilmington, Fayetteville, Wilson and Greenville. On Sunday, he’ll be at a get-out-the-vote event in Rocky Mount with Nash County Democrats, then come to Raleigh.
The Raleigh event on Sunday, with no location or time announced yet, will be a block party with local Democratic leaders.
On Monday, Trump will hold a campaign event in Greenville.
This story was originally published October 17, 2024 at 10:07 AM.
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