ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his family walked the walk on Wednesday, casting their ballots early to encourage voters to use every opportunity available to take part in the 2024 election.
Walz, his wife Gwen and son Gus hopped in their motorcade just after 9:30 a.m. and made the 10-minute journey from Eastcliff on the University of Minnesota Campus to the Ramsey County elections office on St. Paul's west side.
Once at the office at 90 Plato, the Walz family entered the building with the governor greeting election workers. At the counter, Tim Walz told a worker that Gus, now 18, was voting for the first time. After filling out their ballots Tim and Gus fed their ballots into the machine, with a red-shirted election worker shouting, "First time voter!" The governor and Gus high-fived as the room broke into applause.
A pool reporter said other voters seemed to go about their business, noting that Gus Walz took the opportunity to compliment an elections staffer on his Anthony Edwards sneakers.
The Democratic vice-presidential candidate stopped outside the elections office for a brief chat with reporters, saying he voted for Kamala Harris for president without mentioning his spot on the ticket. Walz also addressed interviews published Tuesday in the New York Times and The Atlantic with former Trump Chief of Staff General John Kelly. In those interviews, Kelly said the former president had expressed admiration for the generals who served Adolph Hitler, adding that Trump “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”
“If there was ever a red line, he has stepped across it," Walz told reporters when asked about Trump's alleged comments. "And so I appreciate General Kelly coming out at this moment.”
Trump’s campaign denied Kelly's accounts Tuesday, with campaign spokesman Steven Cheung saying that Kelly had “beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated.”
Reporters also asked Walz about U.S. intelligence reports saying Russian interests were behind false allegations that he had acted inappropriately while employed as a teacher at Mankato West High School, and why he thought he had been targeted.
“Putin wants Donald Trump to win,” Walz opined.