Rope. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was praised on Wednesday Vice President Kamala Harris running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz touted the “many different assets” he brings to the ticket.
“Vice President Harris is picking a unifier not just for the Democratic Party but for the entire United States,” Ocasio-Cortez said of him on “CBS Mornings.”
Harris announced the popular two-term governor as his running mate on Tuesday morning, and hours later the pair appeared together at a packed campaign rally in Philadelphia to debut the Democratic ticket. A veteran, former high school social studies teacher and former congressman who represented rural communities, Walz has adopted progressive priorities as governor. The two are campaigning across battleground states this week.
Ocasio-Cortez celebrated the election of Walz, saying his addition to the ticket means “we see all Americans — rural America, suburban America, urban America — regardless of identity.”
Harris’ choice of waltz drew praise across much of the Democratic Party. On the one hand welcomed sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia independent who was elected with Democrats, Walz’s election, saying he could not “think of anyone better than Governor Walz to help bring our country closer together and bring balance back to the Democratic Party.”
And on the other hand, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket on Tuesday, saying the ticket will “bring the entire Democratic coalition together” to win in November.
Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the small but influential group of House progressives known as the “squad,” joked on social media Tuesday that “it’s not common” that she and Manchin are on the same side of an issue, noting that it speaks of “how powerfully unifying this is.”