Which presidential ticket fits US policy?
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, at a rally in Asheville on Tuesday, used gun rights and tax cuts as examples of how he and Vice President Kamala Harris are Democrats willing to compromise. Their Republican opponents promoted a conspiracy about immigrants eating pets to distract from their policies, Walz told a packed room at Asheville’s Salvage Station.
Walz took aim at Trump and his running mate JD Vance, but stressed that his candidates’ policy decisions and beliefs are more in line with American views.
“You know her story,” Walz said of Harris. “She took on the predators, she took on the fraudsters, she took on the transnational gangs, she took on the big business and never hesitated to work with everybody on both sides of the aisle to do what was right for the American people.”
North Carolina is considered a swing state, and Democrats say it could play a major role in swinging this year’s election. They hope to replicate former President Barack Obama’s 2008 victory. According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Trump currently holds a lead in North Carolina of just 0.4 percent.
Onstage, Walz called out Vance for his “malicious, hurtful lies” about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, posted on X that immigrants in the city are kidnapping and eating people’s pets — claims Trump repeated during a presidential debate earlier this month. The claims have been debunked, and Ohio police said there are no credible reports of such events. Vance told a CNN reporter that he’s comfortable making up stories, such as the one that immigrants are killing and eating pets, to grab media attention.
“You have to ask yourself, what other things are they making up stories about?” Walz said. “The reason you do that is because if you told them what you really stand for, no one would vote for you.”
Walz said he is committed to the public interest, citing his work in Congress, where he focuses on veterans’ affairs, transportation, agriculture and rural economic development, in addition to his party.
“It’s about taking care of your neighbors. It’s about looking out for someone next to you. It’s about understanding the common good,” he said. “I learned something very important, which is that you can compromise without compromising your values.”
Walz told the crowd that he and Harris both own guns, echoing what Harris said during the debate. He said he supports the Second Amendment, but wants gun laws that prevent tragedies like school shootings. Walz also said he supports expanding abortion rights, noting that reproductive freedom includes procedures like in vitro fertilization.
“Do you really want a federal agency run by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance to give Mark Robinson the power to monitor your pregnancy? That stuff is so dystopian that Orwell wouldn’t even write it,” Walz said. “But here’s the thing, people live their lives differently and we respect that.”
Walz appeared to be referring, as he has before, to Project 2025, a policy initiative launched by a conservative think tank. The proposal does not call for a new federal agency designed to monitor pregnancies, but would require states to submit abortion statistics to the federal government, Politifact reported. Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, saying he is not affiliated with the plan, which was crafted with the help of some of his former advisers.
The Republican counterweight to Walz: It is the Democrats who have radical positions.
“His values are those of the radical left and are antithetical to those of North Carolina and the American people,” said Matt Mercer, communications director for the North Carolina Republican Party, in a press release ahead of Walz’s visit.
Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, Rep. Lindsey Prather, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, Asheville Vice Mayor Sandra Kilgore and community organizer Meredith Anderson spoke before Walz, all highlighting issues important to them — from public education to abortion. Orr, a former Republican for nearly 50 years, said the GOP no longer cares about protecting freedom or democracy.
“No longer the party of those who care about protecting our freedoms, or lowering costs, or working for middle-class North Carolinians, or fighting for our democracy,” he said. “It is the party of Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and Mark Robinson, the extreme Project 2025 agenda designed to tear away our fundamental freedoms, strangle our economy, and undermine the foundation of our democracy.”
Lee Stockdale, a 71-year-old Asheville resident, said Tuesday’s political rally was the first he’d attended. The most important factor in November is a respect for democracy and morality, he said.
“It’s the morality factor. Morality and ethics in government, truth and honesty,” Stockdale said. “It’s not a policy, it’s an attitude toward truth and what the facts are.”
