Obama strategist shouts out one candidate for Harris running mate

A former Obama strategist has given a shout-out to a current Midwestern governor for his “aggressive campaign” to join the ticket of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

David Axelrod, the chief strategist for former President Obama’s presidential campaigns, praised Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in a post on social media as reports indicate that Walz is on Harris’ short list to be her vice president.

“Whether he makes it or not, there’s no doubt MN Gov. @Tim_Walz is running the most aggressive campaign for VP in the field,” Axelrod posted along with a glowing Politico report detailing Walz’s “Midwest grit.”

While much of the veepstakes conversation has centered on four names – Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper – Walz is included on the broader list along with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

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Prior to taking the governor’s office in 2019, Walz served for 12 years in Congress. Before running for Congress, he served for over two decades in the Army National Guard and worked as a social studies teacher.

Walz recently made media headlines for branding former President Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as “just weird” during an MSNBC interview last week.

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Harris and other Democrats have since used the “weird” label to describe their opponents and their policies.

Trump’s team countered the Democrat’s “weird” campaign on Sunday when Trump spokesman Steven Cheung posted video of Walz calling Trump and Vance “weird” as he stumped for Harris. Chueng accused the likely Democratic nominee and her backers of themselves being out of line for “trying to gaslight everyone into thinking the shooting was staged,” a reference to the assassination attempt at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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