WASHINGTON (AP) — Several cars behind a motorcade carrying Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz crashed Monday as they drove from the airport to a campaign site in Milwaukee, but Walz was unharmed.
President Joe Biden called and spoke with Walz shortly afterward, while the president was traveling with Vice President Kamala Harris to a separate campaign stop in Pittsburgh. Harris’ campaign said she also spoke to her running mate on the phone after the crash and that he was not injured.
Harris’ campaign said the crash involved cars toward the back of the motorcade. Walz, who is also Minnesota’s governor, was riding closer to the front.
The cause of the crash, which occurred shortly before 1 p.m. local time and left several people slightly injured, is not immediately clear.
The White House said Harris was aware of the clash and spoke with Walz to check in on him and the staff. She is expected to receive updates throughout the day.
A member of the traveling pool staff, who was in a van with reporters, was injured and was treated by medics, according to a pool report by a reporter who was riding in Walz’s motorcade. He wrote that passengers “were thrown forward violently when our van collided with the van in front of us and was struck from behind.”
The van with the reporters remained at the side of the road for several minutes.
Some reporters suffered cuts and bruises, and one had a bloody nose. Another feared he had a concussion and initially wanted to be taken to the emergency room, but eventually climbed into a new van to escort the rest of the press to the event.
According to the pool report, all persons who wanted to be examined by an ambulance were assessed.
The crash occurred after Walz and his wife, Gwen, were greeted at the airport by Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin. The trio hugged, chatted and posed for photos before the motorcade headed to the event.
Monday’s campaign stops to mark Labor Day, the first time Walz has boarded the Harris-Walz campaign charter plane. It bears decals of an American flag, the words Harris-Walz and “A New Way Forward.”
