Harris vs Trump live: Ex-president trashes ‘communist’ VP pick Tim Walz after raucous rally – UK Times

Hollywood star Jennifer Garner and Queer Eye alum Bobby Berk joined rural Democratic activists on a Zoom call on Tuesday in celebrating Harris’s selection of Tim Walz as her running mate.

The Zoom call, formally called Rural Voters for Harris, took place after Harris and Walz took the stage in Philadelphia for their first rally since he was tapped to join her on the Democratic party’s ticket.

Here’s Eric Garcia on what was said.

Kamala Harris’ campaign has rejected the suggestion that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was overlooked as her running mate in favour of Tim Walz because of his Jewish faith.

Representatives said that the claims were “ridiculous and offensive” and that the Vice President would “always combat antisemitism whenever and wherever she sees it.”

Despite losing out to Walz, Shapiro gamely introduced the ticket on stage last night, joining in the attacks on JD Vance as “a weirdo”.

The Republican nominee is up bright and early talking Tim Walz on Fox’s flagship breakfast show and calling him “a very liberal man and a shocking pick” on Harris’s part.

“He’s a smarter version of her, if you want to know the truth,” Trump tells the hosts.

“He’s basically Bernie Sanders, no he’s greater than Bernie Sanders,” he adds, picking up an attack line used by Lauren Boebert yesterday, among others.

“There’s never been a ticket like this,” he gripes.

“This is a ticket that wants this country to go communist immediately if not sooner. ‘We want no security, we want no anything.’ He’s very into transgender, anything transgender he thinks is great. And [Walz] is not where the country is on anything.

“This is a shocking pick and I think it’s very insulting to Jewish people, and I think it’s very insulting to anyone who wants security. It’s very insulting to anything having to do with making America great again.”

Trump further argues that it is “insulting” to Jewish voters that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was not chosen and says that he has heard Harris is “sort of a nasty person” as a debater.

He also claims that Walz called him for help following the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted in Minneapolis in summer 2020 over the police killing of George Floyd and that, with a kind word from the then-president, the crowds magically dispersed, which is not exactly how I remember it. How about you?

Here’s Josh Marcus on that MAGA critique of the Governor.

Democratic representative Cori Bush became the second member of the Squad to lose her primary as county prosecutor Wesley Bell beat her in a grueling and expensive race in Missouri on Tuesday night.

Pro-Israel groups spent massive amounts of money to depose Bush in the district where she pulled off an upset victory against a longtime incumbent Democrat back in 2020.

The United Democracy Project (UDP), a super PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent $9.2m against Bush, according to AdImpact.

That made the primary the second-most expensive one of the year after UDP spent millions in opposition to fellow Squad member and New York representative Jamaal Bowman.

By contrast, Bush’s campaign only spent $1.1m and the Justice Democrats, a group that supports left-wing candidates, spent only $2.5m in the district that includes St Louis.

The massive drive from pro-Israel groups appeared to pay off, with Bell declaring victory on Tuesday with 51 per cent of the vote to Bush’s 46 per cent.

Here’s more from Eric Garcia.

Trump’s running mate appeared on stage at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia last night to deliver a speech in front of national news cameras and Republican supporters.

Behind him was a stage backdrop reading: “KAMALA CHAOS.”

But Vance’s attempt to trash the Democratic presidential candidate spectacularly failed, as the backdrop was partially covered by rallygoers, leaving only the name “KAMALA” visible.

The image quickly went viral on social media, with critics roasting Vance for unwittingly appearing to campaign for his opposition.

Trump’s running mate also happened to be campaigning in Philadelphia yesterday.

Here’s John Bowden on how his attacks on Walz reveal the wider Republican strategy.

The GOP is reportedly concerned that its Dear Leader is having a “public nervous breakdown” after he made a series of offensive outbursts about Vice President Harris in response to slipping behind in the polls.

Here’s the latest from Kelly Rissman.

The Republican nominee reacted hysterically to Harris choosing Walz as her running mate yesterday, warning the mild-mannered man former high school teacher would “unleash HELL ON EARTH” in a fundraising email to supporters.

Desperate to regain the limelight, Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will do “a major interview” with Elon Musk next Monday August 12.

He’s also speaking to Fox and Friends this morning, where he can be relied upon to attack Walz as a “radical leftist” and claim that “Kamabla” is personally responsible for inflation.

We got a flavour of that last night in another Truth Social post in which he also baselessly and insanely claimed: “I HEAR THERE IS A BIG MOVEMENT TO “BRING BACK CROOKED JOE.”

Trump was also trying to wrestle back attention last night by taking credit for a slate of primary wins for his MAGA candidates when most eyes were trained on Philadelphia.

Walz has shared plenty of family stories on social media over the years, including just last night, when he explained that his daughter was named Hope in response to he and his wife Gwen’s eventual triumph after years of heart-breaking fertility treatment.

Want to know more about the man of the moment?

From high school halls to Capitol Hill and the Minnesota governor’s mansion, Nebraska native Tim Walz has been weaving a political path tinged with schoolteacher sensibilities since 2006 – and the next stop could be the White House. His family life has figured prominently through all of it, writes Sheila Flynn.