Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz gave a rousing 14-minute psych-up speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday night. The former high school teacher and football coach turned Minnesota governor tapped into his experience revving up players on the field to encourage Democrats to “do the blocking and tackling” to help Vice President Kamala Harris beat former President Donald Trump in the November election.
“We’ve got 76 days. That’s nothing. There’ll be time to sleep when you’re dead,” he said.
The speech elicited tears of pride from Walz’s kids, who were in the convention hall with their mother Gwen Walz and got emotional watching their father take the stage and talk about their family’s journey with infertility.
“That’s my dad!” shouted Gus Walz, a 17-year-old high school senior, with teary eyes as he stood up and pointed to the stage in an emotional ‘proud son’ moment that was captured on camera and has since gone viral. The Walz family told People earlier this month that Gus has an anxiety disorder, ADHD, and a non-verbal learning disorder.
After the Democratic vice presidential nominee finished the last speech of day 3 of the DNC, dozens of delegates from Minnesota stayed on the convention floor chanting “We want Tim,” holding up cutouts of Walz’s face and waving signs that read, “Coach Walz.” The group cheered wildly for 30 minutes and didn’t disperse until the convention organizers flashed the hall lights on and off multiple times.
Here are some of the hardest-hitting moments from Walz’s address.
‘Never underestimate a public school teacher’
Walz taught high school in Nebraska and Minnesota before running for Congress and winning in a long-standing Republican district. “Never underestimate a public school teacher,” he said Wednesday as he recalled his journey. Walz ended up serving in the House for 12 years and then went on to win two terms as Minnesota governor.
In a video shown…
