Minnesota governor terms Trump’s policies 'detrimental' to workers

In the closing days of the 2024 presidential campaign, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris, delivered a fiery critique of Donald Trump and Elon Musk at a rally in Madison, Wisconsin.

With the election just two weeks away, Walz sought to rally Democratic voters and paint a stark picture of what a second Trump presidency could mean for the country.

His speech came as both parties ramp up efforts in crucial swing states, including Wisconsin, where polling shows a tight race between Harris and Trump.

Speaking on the first day of early voting in Wisconsin, Walz zeroed in on Trump’s recent campaign stop at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, where the former president served food and posed for photos.

Walz dismissed the event as a stunt, designed to create the illusion of empathy for working-class Americans without offering any real policy solutions.

“He cosplays as a working-class person, but nothing in his policies actually benefits them,” Walz said, drawing cheers from the crowd. “It was a stunt. Fake orders for fake customers.”

Walz highlighted Trump’s economic policies as detrimental to the very voters he claims to champion, pointing to rising inequality, housing affordability, and healthcare costs.

He accused Trump of pandering to working-class voters without offering substantive policies to improve their lives. “Nothing Donald Trump is proposing does anything about the middle class,” Walz said, emphasizing that Trump’s agenda benefits the wealthy at the expense of everyday Americans.

The Minnesota governor also launched a scathing attack on Elon Musk, a prominent Trump supporter who has donated tens of millions of dollars to the former president’s campaign.

Musk has made headlines for offering financial incentives, including $1 million a day, to individuals who sign a petition supporting Trump’s return to power.

Walz questioned the legality of Musk’s actions, describing them as an attempt to undermine the democratic process.

“This is absolutely illegal. Nothing short of bribery,” Walz said, warning that Musk’s involvement in the election threatens the integrity of the vote.

Musk’s financial incentives have sparked concern among election experts, who argue that linking cash rewards to voting behavior may violate federal election laws.

Walz, echoing these concerns, emphasized that the stakes in the 2024 election are too high to allow wealthy individuals like Musk to manipulate the outcome.

“We cannot allow our democracy to be bought,” Walz told the crowd, urging voters to reject Trump and Musk’s influence.

Walz’s remarks came on the heels of a report by The Atlantic, which revealed disturbing comments Trump allegedly made while serving as president.

According to the report, Trump expressed admiration for the loyalty of generals under Adolf Hitler, saying, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.”

The article, based on information from Trump’s former White House chief of staff John Kelly, has sparked widespread outrage and renewed concerns about Trump’s authoritarian tendencies.

Walz, a veteran of the Army National Guard, condemned Trump’s alleged remarks in strong terms.

“As a 24-year veteran of our military, that makes me sick as hell, and it should make you sick,” he said, warning that Trump’s comments reflect a dangerous mindset that could lead to autocratic rule.

“Don’t be the frog in boiling water and think this is okay. The guardrails are gone, and Trump is descending into madness.”

While the Trump campaign has denied the allegations, Walz seized on the controversy to drive home the stakes of the election.

He warned that Trump’s increasingly extreme rhetoric, including promises to prosecute political enemies and use the military against dissenters, poses a direct threat to American democracy.

“A former president of the United States says he wants generals like Adolf Hitler had. Think about that,” Walz said, urging the audience to take Trump’s rhetoric seriously.

Walz’s forceful rhetoric reflects the broader strategy of the Democratic Party, which has sought to highlight Trump’s extremism and the potential dangers of his return to the Oval Office.

Former President Barack Obama, who has been actively campaigning for Harris, has also taken aim at Trump’s behavior and mental fitness.

At a rally in Wisconsin earlier this week, Obama compared Trump’s rambling speeches to those of Fidel Castro and questioned whether the former president was mentally fit to serve.

“You’d be worried if Grandpa was acting like this,” Obama quipped, casting Trump’s erratic behavior as a sign of cognitive decline.

The Harris campaign is also focusing heavily on Musk’s growing influence in the election. The tech billionaire has reportedly committed at least $70 million to Trump’s campaign and has made no secret of his support for Trump’s policies on free speech and gun rights.

Musk’s involvement has raised concerns that his financial backing could sway the outcome in key swing states, where the race between Harris and Trump is particularly close.

In Wisconsin, a state that Trump won narrowly in 2016 but lost by a slim margin to President Joe Biden in 2020, early voting numbers are already surging.

More than 326,000 Wisconsinites had cast their ballots by October 21, and that number is expected to grow significantly as early voting continues.

Both parties are focusing heavily on Wisconsin, with its 10 electoral votes potentially playing a decisive role in the outcome of the election.

Walz’s message to voters was clear: the 2024 election is not just a contest between two candidates, but a choice between democracy and authoritarianism.

He urged voters to reject Trump’s divisive rhetoric and Musk’s attempts to influence the election with his vast wealth.

“Folks, the guardrails are gone,” Walz said, repeating a refrain he has used throughout the campaign. “This is about protecting our democracy.”

With just days remaining until Election Day, the race between Harris and Trump remains neck-and-neck, and both campaigns are pulling out all the stops to turn out voters in key battleground states.

For Walz and the Democrats, the goal is to drive home the urgency of the moment and convince voters that the future of American democracy is on the line.

As Walz told the crowd in Madison, “We need every single one of you to show up and vote, because the stakes have never been higher.