'We don't eat cats': Grand Rapids crowd welcomes Walz' debate critique
GRAND RAPIDS — Minnesota Gov. and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz blasted former President Donald Trump’s performance in the recent presidential debate, telling an energized crowd at a Grand Rapids rally Thursday that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, by contrast, presented a path forward for the country.
Before Thursday, Walz's and Harris' visits to Michigan had been limited to metro Detroit. In front of a crowd of hundreds at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, Walz said Trump is focused on enriching himself and others if he were to win a second term in the White House.
“He did not say one thing he would do to make life better for the American people,” said Walz. "On every single issue, Vice President Harris is standing on those issues with you and your family. It’s clear Donald Trump has no plan for you."
The Tuesday debate, which was watched by an estimated 67 million viewers across a slew of television networks, was repeatedly referenced by Walz and other speakers at the event, who argued the debate featured two starkly different visions for the U.S.
“The debate this week showed the American people that this is an election between two very different candidates,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said before Walz took the stage. “A tough, tested prosecutor versus an angry convicted felon who lies about crowd size.”
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Walz brought up several moments from the debate, including one where Trump falsely claimed that illegal immigrants were eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. The claim, which originated in social media circles, was quickly debunked by the debate’s moderators and has been rejected by local officials.
“It would be funny, too, if it weren’t so dangerous,” Walz said of Trump’s rhetoric.
When Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, referenced the remark before Walz took the stage, the crowd began chanting “We don’t eat cats.”
Trump made the remark as he continues to attack Harris for the Biden administration's handling of the U.S. Southern border with Mexico.
Walz also criticized Trump for not condemning the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, as well as not saying he would veto a national abortion ban if Congress sent him such a bill.
“A mark of true leadership is not who beats people down, it’s who lifts people up. When there’s a bully and it’s time to, she can beat a bully down. But for the American people, she laid out a plan for an opportunity economy,” Walz said of Harris, referring to floated economic plans to install a federal ban on price gouging and increase tax credits for first-time homebuyers.
“Screaming about eating cats is not a solution,” he added.
The Trump campaign, during the debate and in other events, has criticized Harris for not accomplishing more as vice president.
Whitmer lauded several legislative accomplishments Minnesota has made under Walz’s tenure, telling the crowd they come from the same “get s--- done” playbook as governors.
Recalling a theme she has raised repeatedly when campaigning for Harris, Whitmer also painted Walz as a candidate voters could relate to, while arguing Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, were out of touch with everyday Americans.
“He is just like us. Both he and Kamala Harris understand our lives,” Whitmer said. “... Donald Trump and JD Vance don’t know us at all. You think Donald Trump has ever changed a flat tire? You think Donald Trump has ever shoveled a neighbor’s driveway? You think JD Vance has ever opened his mouth without putting his foot in it?”
Walz’s visit to Michigan comes as opinion polls show a virtually locked margin in Michigan and several other battleground states expected to be key to deciding who wins the White House this fall. Trump won Michigan during his first presidential run in 2016, but Biden, with Harris as his running mate, defeated Trump by about 154,000 votes in Michigan in 2020.
“This is going to be a razor-thin election,” Walz said. “We’re still the underdogs in this thing.”
Walz's remarks lasted about 40 minutes.
Denise Saganski, a retired teacher who attended Thursday's rally, said she supports Harris' campaign because she views the vice president as a "servant leader" who wants to improve the lives of others.
"If you look at a transcript of the debate, I think he showed who he was," Saganski said of Trump, following the event.
Along with the Thursday rally, Walz had another event planned for Friday morning in Grand Rapids before a stop in Lansing that afternoon.
The Trump campaign’s next venture to Michigan will be Tuesday, when the former president holds a town hall in Flint. Victoria LaCivita, communications director for the Trump campaign in Michigan, blasted Walz’s visit Tuesday, saying in a statement, “He's wrong for Michigan and wrong for America, which is why Michiganders are going to flip the Great Lakes State red in November."
Contact Arpan Lobo: [email protected]
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tim Walz blasts Trump in Michigan: 'He has no plan for you'
