Tim Walz on The Daily Show | October 21, 2024

 Auto-transcribed on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.media and text playback available on this page: https://aliceapp.ai/recordings/esaTmf08vGWZhoAyibJXORjHNLBxU5dn

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Words: 	3,635 	
Duration: 	00:18:16 	
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Uploaded on: 	2024-10-22 21:43:27 UTC 	
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Speakers:

 Jon Stewart - 41.07%

 Tim Walz - 58.93%

Notes:

Summary by ChatGPT- Undecided Voters: Walz discusses the challenge of convincing undecided voters, many of whom are historically Republican, to move away from Trump and embrace a more moderate path focused on tangible benefits like tax cuts and Medicare expansion.- Economy and Tangible Policies: He emphasizes the importance of addressing economic concerns with concrete policies that benefit middle-class and rural communities, such as home healthcare and tax credits, rather than relying solely on abstract economic indicators.- Union Support and Workers' Rights: Walz highlights his advocacy for unions, workers' rights, and policies like defined benefit pension plans and easier unionization, reflecting his background as a teacher and public servant.- Rural vs. Urban Issues: He addresses the divide between rural and urban America, noting that while some issues differ (e.g., guns), many challenges, such as healthcare access and the impact of manufacturing jobs moving overseas, are shared across these areas.- Gun Control and Responsibility: As a gun owner, Walz supports responsible gun ownership and advocates for policies like red flag laws and assault weapon bans, emphasizing the importance of protecting children over preserving unrestricted access to firearms.

[00:00:01]  Jon Stewart 
 No, it m must be nice. That must feel pretty good. Now, let me ask you this, actually, she called you coach. Actually, uh, tonight I talked to you not as the democratic nominee for vice president, but as a football coach. Uh, my giants got their asses kicked. 

[00:00:18]  Tim Walz 
 They did. 

[00:00:20]  Jon Stewart 
 There's gotta be something you could do. 

[00:00:22]  Tim Walz 
 They should have kept Shaquan play. The money. Pay the money. Of course, they could have been checked out. Pay the money. 

[00:00:27]  Jon Stewart 
 No, he's right. 

[00:00:31]  Tim Walz 
 I. 

[00:00:31]  Jon Stewart 
 But thank you for being here. Is this the first non swing state that you've been in? In the last. 

[00:00:39]  Tim Walz 
 Uh, been in a couple, but mostly the swing states. 

[00:00:42]  Jon Stewart 
 Mostly the swing states. Are they at any point now when you show up? Cause you saw the reaction that you got here. You're coming into New York. We haven't seen, honestly, anybody. Excuse me. Like, now, when you roll into Pennsylvania, are they just like, oh, my God. 

[00:01:11]  Tim Walz 
 No. They're excited. 

[00:01:13]  Jon Stewart 
 They are excited. 

[00:01:13]  Tim Walz 
 Well, they know how much, uh, they know what's riding on this. They know that, uh, those swing states and those counties matter. It's targeted. Uh, they're doing the work. Woke up in Saginaw, Michigan, yesterday, went to a union hall in the morning. Uh, 120 folks down there going out on a canvas. 

[00:01:29]  Jon Stewart 
 I'm just going to stop you right there. Uh, there's no wooing for Saginaw. 

[00:01:34]  Tim Walz 
 It's nice. It's nice, right? That guy knows. 

[00:01:37]  Jon Stewart 
 It's not woo nice. It's when you go into these places and, you know, are you speaking now? It's rallies now where they're coming to see you. Like, the listening tour stuff is over. 

[00:01:51]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah. Yeah. Well, we still, you know, get to the union halls, we stop in restaurants. That's what I do is eat on this most of the time. You can tell. So, uh, but, uh, folks are still talking and I know it's hard to imagine there's a lot of folks still deciding what they're going to do. 

[00:02:06]   
 I think, you know, the polling says there's no undecided voters. They're watching this. They're watching this craziness that you're seeing, and then they're seeing that, uh, this is serious stuff. And so I still think there is that opportunity just to chat with them, tell them what we're doing. 

[00:02:19]  Jon Stewart 
 Have you met people that appear to be somebody? Because what I know of people who say, oh, I'm undecided. You talk to them for 30 seconds and you're like, oh, you're a libertarian. Like, it's. They have what their deal is already set up. They just sort of place themselves in this. I don't know yet. 

[00:02:36]   
 Have you felt what's been an effective argument that you felt has pulled people closer to you? 

[00:02:42]  Tim Walz 
 Well, it's, a lot of the folks I'm talking to on that, they're folks that are probably, they are Republicans and they say it. And Republican introduces me in Omaha, he said, I can't stand with this guy anymore. That's not the party of Reagan. This isn't freedom, whatever it may be. It's a lot of those folks that are trying to find permission to get off the, get off the mega stuff and move over. 

[00:03:00]   
 So they're still listening. They're finding a way. 

[00:03:02]  Jon Stewart 
 Is the concern that they have that a Harris Walls, you know, team would be too liberal? Or, you know, is it, do they point to, oh, in Minnesota, uh, you allowed tampons in different bathrooms and trans, uh, people were allowed to play sports and, oh, my God, we're all gonna be communists. 

[00:03:22]  Tim Walz 
 Like, what are they, our children are eating breakfast or lunch. 

[00:03:25]  Jon Stewart 
 Right. But is that, what is the, what's the barrier? What do you find is the barrier to them, uh, being able to place that? 

[00:03:36]  Tim Walz 
 Well, for a lot of them, they've never crossed over that line. I mean, it really is. And you can say it about, you know, Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney and some of those that did show some courage to cross over, they don't agree. These are folks that were told that, I'm historically republican, I'm gonna vote Republican. 

[00:03:48]   
 Um, but they don't have a home anymore. And I think for a lot of cases, they hear the noise that's out there, but that's why I'm out there talking to them. We're talking about tax cuts for the middle class, talking about homeownership, talking about the one that I'll tell you really makes a difference, especially in rural areas, because it's an older population, expanding home care for Medicare, and that's all of a sudden they're like, well, that's a damn good idea. 

[00:04:06]  Jon Stewart 
 M, I gotta tell you, that may be my favorite. 

[00:04:08]  Tim Walz 
 It is. 

[00:04:09]  Jon Stewart 
 That may be my favorite policy. 

[00:04:11]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah, it is mine. 

[00:04:12]  Jon Stewart 
 Because, you know, when you think about, you know, everybody wants to talk about, uh, it's the economy, stupid. And sometimes there is a sense that the government is not necessarily responsive, that there's a disconnect between kind of the legislators in Washington and all the lobbyists that surround them and the needs of people in their communities. 

[00:04:31]   
 Home health care, childcare, uh, elder care, uh, you know, education, rural hospitals. 

[00:04:38]  Tim Walz 
 Rural hospitals. Biggest issues they don't have ambulances in rural areas in some cases. So, yeah. 

[00:04:44]  Jon Stewart 
 How do you convince them that the things that will be done in your administration will impact their lives in a tangible way? 

[00:04:52]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah, they need to feel it. I oftentimes talk about this as a teacher. You know, the Maslow's hierarchy is self actualization. You gotta have a lot of time on your hands money to self actualize. Um, they're worried about, and when they say that they're worried about the economy, believe them. They are worried about the economy or they're struggling. 

[00:05:07]   
 You can't tell them, well, inflation's down, interest rates are coming down. They need to see the tangible things that will make a difference. So talk to them what a $6,000 tax credit looks like, as opposed to a Trump tariff that would add 20%. Um, these are folks that want to find a reason to not vote for Donald Trump. 

[00:05:22]   
 We need to give them that. So I think in the midst of this. You think? Yeah, I said, coming out after that opening, it is terrifying watching their doing. But that's all distraction, the Trump distraction. If he is dangerous, it is serious. He's not going to do. He's not going to do any manufacturing. 

[00:05:41]  Jon Stewart 
 But, you know, it's interesting if I judge it from. And again, New York's not a swing state, but we see the commercials. We're inundated with the commercials as well, mostly for down ballot races and things like that. But if I were to look at this as an alien stepping into this election, just from the commercials, I would think that Republicans vote on two things. 

[00:05:59]   
 Uh, stopping people from coming over the border and stopping trans people from playing sports. Like, those are the only two commercials that I've seen. And the Democrats, oddly enough, run on two things as well. Stopping people coming in from the border. They've accepted it. Like, all the Democrats that are running for Congress and for other offices here in New York all talk about the border and then choice legislation. 

[00:06:24]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah. 

[00:06:25]  Jon Stewart 
 And you would think those are the only two things that are going on that anybody is talking about. So it's interesting to hear that one. It's more economy. 

[00:06:33]  Tim Walz 
 Well, they ask people to rank the issues where they're at, depending on where you rank it. And look, these guys figured out early fear is a great short term motivator. I often say, I supervise the high school lunchroom. I know fear works. Uh, it doesn't, but it doesn't change behaviors. Believe that there's this aspirational peace and really listening to where people are at in small towns. 

[00:06:52]   
 These are not hateful people, but they're wondering, where did their manufacturing jobs go? Well, Donald Trump shipped them overseas. You know, tariffs and things like that. We need to make sure we're making the case that, look, here's how this is going to specifically impact you. We hear you about this. 

[00:07:06]  Jon Stewart 
 Um, but I would think the Democrats are the ones, when you talk about shipping things overseas, you know, you would say NAFTA or free trade were the things that really hollowed out the manufacturing base. Now, investment in infrastructure and all that has brought a lot of it back. But that is kind of an albatross around democrats next, which is our trade policies kind of helped this globalization occur. 

[00:07:30]  Tim Walz 
 It's a fair argument. But I also think, too, that Covid rechanged that. The breaking of the chain, you know, the supply chains. And, look, we can have fair trade. We produce more soybeans in Minnesota than we're going to eat. We need to have markets for them. But it needs to be fair, making sure the jobs are here. 

[00:07:44]   
 I think that's the one thing when you talk to people, what are their aspirations? They want to have good jobs. They want to have safe communities. They want to have good schools, because, again, these guys are going to go to voucherization of schools. Where are you going to find a private school in the town of 400, like where I grew up? 

[00:07:59]   
 Where are you going to find a hospital? 

[00:08:01]  Jon Stewart 
 You know, you bring them in focus. We talk a lot about, it's this red blue divide or it's these different things. What about the rural and urban divide? Because it really does seem as though policies for one group, very difficult to apply to another group. And when we talk about. Even, like, with guns. 

[00:08:17]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah. 

[00:08:18]  Jon Stewart 
 You know, guns in rural America means a very different thing than guns in places where it's more densely populated. 

[00:08:25]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah. But, uh, dead children in their schools means the same thing in rural areas. 

[00:08:29]  Jon Stewart 
 Absolutely. 

[00:08:30]  Tim Walz 
 And I think that's where we. That piece. Look, I understand that that's happened to. I won a congressional seat, the second Democrat in over 100 years, in a red district. Donald Trump won that district by, like, 17 points in 2016. Your district, my district, and I still won again. I haven't changed them. 

[00:08:50]   
 Now that district has changed. Would I win that district today? It would be a tough race, I think, as compared to where it was. 

[00:08:55]  Jon Stewart 
 Right. 

[00:08:55]  Tim Walz 
 But the issues have not changed for him. And I think this issue around guns, especially being a gun owner, uh, responsible gun owners know that you can protect the second amendment, but your first responsibility is those kids, and you can do red flag laws you can do, you know, extreme risk protection orders, background checks, and you can do getting assault weapons out of the streets and out of that. 

[00:09:15]   
 So, you know, I think we make a mistake on that one. 

[00:09:20]  Jon Stewart 
 One of the real first qualifications of being a vice president is obviously, uh, rifle safety. I think. Uh, yes, it is. You know, I can't think of a vice president in recent memory that, uh, used, uh, a shotgun irresponsibly. Nothing comes to mind. That's right. How is that the Cheney thing? Do we really have to do that? 

[00:09:48]  Tim Walz 
 Look, it goes broader than that. Look, Bernie Sanders, Dick Cheney, Taylor Swift. 

[00:09:53]  Jon Stewart 
 No, no, no, no. That one. 

[00:09:54]  Tim Walz 
 Oh, that shooting. 

[00:09:55]  Jon Stewart 
 No, no, no. 

[00:09:55]  Tim Walz 
 Having the Cheneys on board. 

[00:09:57]  Jon Stewart 
 Nah, you can't. Dick Cheney or Taylor Swift. 

[00:10:00]  Tim Walz 
 No, Dick, we're a big Taylor Swift. We're a big tank. 

[00:10:04]  Jon Stewart 
 What country did Taylor Swift get us to invade? 

[00:10:07]  Tim Walz 
 No, no. Don't have. Don't you think, though, that, and I do this. I believe this. There is still a core group of folks out there, you know, your point being, and not joke, the don't tread on me, the Reagan piece of this, the libertarian piece, uh, but the constitutional piece. There are a lot of people out there, I think Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney give permission to those folks who want to find a reason to do the right thing. 

[00:10:29]   
 It doesn't mean they agree with us. We're not going to take their foreign policy decisions and discussions, you know, and implement those. We're going to take their, uh. 

[00:10:36]  Jon Stewart 
 Promise? 

[00:10:37]  Tim Walz 
 Yes, promise. Promise. Yeah, it's a stressful time. 

[00:10:48]  Jon Stewart 
 It's a stressful time now for you, you know, is your day. Now you wake up, are they hitting you with, you know, what we get inundated with is the polling data. Uh, you know, they're really digging down into each thing. And it is, quite frankly, the 24 hours ratchet up, I think, the anxiety they do around all of this. 

[00:11:13]   
 Is that what your day is like? Are you protected from that? 

[00:11:16]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah, no, somebody's doing that. They're sending me, whether it's Saginaw, then I'll be off with, uh, tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to this. We're gonna be in Madison, Wisconsin, with President Obama tomorrow. 

[00:11:28]  Jon Stewart 
 But will they say to you, like, we've got the data in, and today, if you don't get Betsy from outside of Bucks County, Mike, we're done. 

[00:11:38]  Tim Walz 
 No, it's the. Yeah, but it's the overarching message of saying, look, we know that suburban women are deeply concerned, as they should be. And I will add to the men here, you should be deeply concerned about the choice issues, too, but it's less of that. My job's at this point in time to get those volunteers who are fired up. 

[00:11:57]   
 And look, if you're in this mode and you can doom scroll through things and you can watch polls or whatever, the antidote to that is just to make sure he's never elected again, to go out and do the work, to make sure we elect Kamala Harris. Action. And get the work done. Action, action, action. 

[00:12:10]   
 That's what my day is. 

[00:12:12]  Jon Stewart 
 Right. How different has been being on the national stage from being on? Look, you've had a pretty long career in, you know, in Congress as governor. Now that you're on the national stage, has that changed your ability to do that sort of retail politicking that comes from more local things? What's been the difference? 

[00:12:33]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah, no, I think I'm still doing it. Like I said this, that I have a skill set, that I know it. I said, one thing is, I told people, I said, I'm not that great a debater. I was a schoolteacher, so I'm trained to answer questions. Um, that's not a good debating skill to answer. 

[00:12:48]   
 You don't want to. But I still think that reflection, what I'm most proud of is I love this. I think it was Wall Street Journal did it. They did the financial disclosures, and they said, tim walls might be the poorest person to ever run for vice president. But surprisingly, teachers, nurses, firefighters and stuff, it does give me an end with people. 

[00:13:09]   
 It gives me an end to talk to them about this, that. Why do you think I'm fighting for these policies, for defined benefit pension plans, the ability to form a union to make it easier to be in a union right ocean. Cause that's where I come from. 

[00:13:21]  Jon Stewart 
 See, I think that's a fascinating thing because it's always struck me as odd. You know, I can remember a time, and it might have been in the 2016 campaign, or it might have been 2020, where Donald Trump junior said about his father, he's a blue collar billionaire. And I was like, I'm pretty sure that's not a thing. 

[00:13:35]   
 I don't. I don't think they make those. 

[00:13:38]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah, the busting it look, and all the unions with us, they've got union politics that gets inside. 

[00:13:42]  Jon Stewart 
 Why have the unions, though, been more reluctant in this cycle? It's a couple. 

[00:13:45]  Tim Walz 
 They have tough politics inside those. These are folks that are directly responsible. They're members. And look, they're members. Some of them split off. Um, the bottom line is, how can you be with a guy who wants to bust a union's not there to make collective bargaining the right, uh, not to make healthcare there. 

[00:13:59]  Jon Stewart 
 But that is the cognitive distance that I don't quite understand. So you're talking about, uh, union, uh, leaders. 

[00:14:03]  Tim Walz 
 Some of those leaders did not show the courage they needed to. The vast majority of union leaders showed the courage. They're backing up. 

[00:14:09]  Jon Stewart 
 But you have, you know, you have the truck drivers and the teamsters, and they might say, well, I'm pro Trump. I'm make America great. I'm putting on the hard hat and all that. And he's locked in with a group that wants to bring automation to all those jobs. I don't understand how it doesn't make sense. 

[00:14:27]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah, it's our job to do it. We got to talk to folks better. We got to learn how to talk to them. We got to get out in there, because that disconnected. And I always said this as a teacher, if my kids weren't getting the lesson, a lot of them, it's probably because I wasn't teaching it as well as I needed to. 

[00:14:41]   
 So I am still of the belief that we have to do a better job. I think, uh, Kamala's message on the middle class opportunity, you're right, we have a fifth. You know, we have pages of this, and it doesn't. 

[00:14:51]  Jon Stewart 
 It's too detailed. How do you get a bunch? 

[00:14:53]  Tim Walz 
 How do you get a house? What's the tax cut look like for? And what Social Security look like? We start talking to them. Look, the vast majority of union members, the vast majority of middle class folks know that. 

[00:15:02]  Jon Stewart 
 So is there a question? You know, in my mind, I always look at it like, since Reagan, we've turned into a more of an investment economy, as opposed, we've turned away from kind of a labor economy. And I always wonder if, uh, you know, we've got little things here. We've got a child tax credit, we've got some home health care. 

[00:15:16]   
 Is there a bigger swing? Because it always seems to me that the working people, the answer to them is always, oh, you need better representation. You got to get a better union. You got to do another thing. Is there, how do working people get that seat at the table where they get to participate in the shareholder economy? 

[00:15:35]   
 How, uh, come workers are not a part of shareholders? 

[00:15:38]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah, yeah. You elect folks who come from the middle class. So, no, like, so, for example, in Minnesota, it matters to people there. Now, you get paid family, medical leave. I know in some states, you know, but you get those types of things, and those are the things that workers are asking to have you make it. 

[00:15:53]   
 It truly is. When it's easier to form a union, you take home more money, you have a better, you have a better living style. And I think making sure they see that connection for the folks they're electing. 

[00:16:03]  Jon Stewart 
 What's the proudest thing that you, uh, instituted in, uh, Minnesota during your time as governor? 

[00:16:09]  Tim Walz 
 Free breakfast and lunch for kids. They learn better. Couple that with, you know, early childhood, couple that with paid family, medical leave or whatever. And the philosophy we have, and this is what I know Kamal agrees in, you're either gonna buy school buses and school meals or prison buses and prison meals. It makes more sense to bokeh on the front end. 

[00:16:32]   
 You solve a lot of those problems. 

[00:16:37]  Jon Stewart 
 Well, we appreciate you coming here. It's clear that a lot of our audience is undecided. 

[00:16:45]  Tim Walz 
 Good. 

[00:16:46]  Jon Stewart 
 Love you too. 

[00:16:46]  Tim Walz 
 Thank you. Thank you. That guy's from Minnesota. 

[00:16:49]  Jon Stewart 
 Is that true? 

[00:16:50]  Tim Walz 
 Oh, Saginaw. That guy's from Saginaw. 

[00:16:51]  Jon Stewart 
 Oh, are you really from Saginaw? 

[00:16:53]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah. 

[00:16:53]  Jon Stewart 
 No, he's not from Saginaw. While you're in New York City, uh, you got any plans? You gonna do something? You know, people come in from the midwest sometimes and they always ask me where should I go for maybe a slice of pizza? And, uh. 

[00:17:05]  Tim Walz 
 Well, you're gonna all be shocked by this. Uh, I am an avid runner and I got to go in Central park and do a run with him. 

[00:17:12]  Jon Stewart 
 Did you run? 

[00:17:13]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah. 

[00:17:13]  Jon Stewart 
 Is that the first time you went running in Central park? 

[00:17:15]  Tim Walz 
 Second time. Second time after the debate, I went and ran in to. 

[00:17:18]  Jon Stewart 
 Did you really? 

[00:17:19]  Tim Walz 
 Yeah. Uh, the next morning after the debate. 

[00:17:21]  Jon Stewart 
 You went to Central park. 

[00:17:22]  Tim Walz 
 It was so. Well, I needed that confirmation. People like, yeah. Ah, you kicked his butt. Good job, you know, whatever type of thing. I needed that. 

[00:17:31]  Jon Stewart 
 You know, I lived in New York 35 years. No one's ever given me that kind of confirmation. When I run around the park, it's a very different vibe. Where's off to next? What's the next? You're going to go with Obama to Wisconsin. 

[00:17:45]  Tim Walz 
 Wisconsin. To Wisconsin. 

[00:17:46]  Jon Stewart 
 Wisconsin. And then that last two week run. What does that look like? 

[00:17:49]  Tim Walz 
 Whatever they send me, I'll be, I'm guessing Michigan, uh, Pennsylvania, back and forth. My wife's down in Nevada. Uh, you know, we'll be in Georgia. We're in north Carolina. In North Carolina with, uh, Bill Clinton the other day too, which was great to see. And we were there on the first day of early voting, um, and the excitement, especially young kids voting. 

[00:18:07]   
 So we'll just bounce around, get folks excited. 

[00:18:08]  Jon Stewart 
 Well, we very much appreciate you coming by and hanging out. Ladies and gentlemen, the vice presidential nominees of love.