Key Moments From Tim Walz’s Speech to the Democratic National Committee

VU.S. presidential candidate Tim Walz delivered a 14-minute speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday night. The former high school teacher and football coach turned Minnesota governor used his experience motivating players on the field to encourage Democrats to “do the blocking and the tackling” to help Vice President Kamala Harris beat former President Donald Trump in November’s election.

“We have 76 days. That’s nothing. We’ll have time to sleep when you’re dead,” he said.

Learn more: Watch and read Tim Walz’s full speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention

The speech brought tears of pride to Walz’s children, who were in the convention hall with their mother Gwen Walz and were moved to see their father take the stage and speak about their family’s journey with infertility.

“That’s my dad!” shouted Gus Walz, a 17-year-old high school student, tears welling in his eyes as he stood and pointed at the stage in an emotional “proud son” moment that was captured on camera and has since gone viral. The Walz family said People Earlier this month, Gus suffered from an anxiety disorder, ADHD and a nonverbal learning disability.

After the Democratic vice presidential nominee finished his final speech of the third day of the DNC, dozens of Minnesota delegates remained on the convention floor chanting “We want Tim,” holding silhouettes of Walz’s face and waving signs that read “Coach Walz.” The group cheered wildly for 30 minutes and only dispersed when convention organizers repeatedly turned the lights on and off.

Here are some of the most notable moments from Walz’s speech.

“Never underestimate a public sector teacher”

Walz taught high schools in Nebraska and Minnesota before running for Congress and winning in a longtime Republican district. “Never underestimate a public school teacher,” he said Wednesday of his career. Walz eventually served in the House of Representatives for 12 years and then won two terms as Minnesota governor.

In a video released before Walz took the stage, several of his former high school students described how he knew the name of every child in his classes, built sets for the school play and volunteered to be the faculty advisor when students wanted to start an LGBTQ alliance at school.

Walz said he “fell in love with teaching” and that the experience made him realize the importance of knowing that “we’re all in this together” and “that one person can make a real difference for their neighbors.”

Of his time in Congress, he said he “learned to compromise without compromising his values.”

Among Walz’s class in a small town high school, “none of them went to Yale”

Walz criticized Trump’s vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance, who grew up in tough circumstances and ended up enlisting in the Marine Corps before graduating from Ohio State University and Yale Law School. He has already accused Vance of disdaining his own origins in his best-selling memoir. Hillbilly Elegy.

Walz grew up in a town of 400 in Butte, Nebraska. “I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale,” Walz said.

“Living in such a small community,” Walz said, “you learn to look out for each other. That family down the street may not think like you, may not pray like you, may not love like you, but they’re your neighbors, you look out for them and they look out for you,” she added.

“We have a golden rule: mind your own business.”

As governor, Walz said he cut taxes for the middle class, introduced paid family and medical leave and lowered the cost of prescription drugs. He also said he worked to provide free school breakfasts and lunches to all children in the state. “While other states banned books from their schools, we are banning hunger from ours,” Walz said, criticizing Republican-led efforts to remove books from school libraries and reading lists.

“We also protected reproductive freedom because in Minnesota we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make,” Walz said, referring to his work with the state legislature to protect abortion access in the state after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade“Even though we wouldn’t make the same choices for ourselves, we have one golden rule: mind your own business.”

Walz says protection from IVF is ‘personal’

As he often does during his campaign, Walz used his speech at the Democratic National Committee to highlight access to reproductive health care, including in vitro fertilization (IVF). He called the topic “personal,” referring to his and his wife’s journey to conceive their children.

“If you’ve never experienced the hell of infertility, I guarantee you know someone who has. And I remember praying every night for a phone call – the pit in my stomach when the phone rang and the absolute agony when we found out the treatments hadn’t worked,” he said. “It took Gwen and I years to get access to fertility treatments, and when our daughter was born, we named her Hope.”

“Hope, Gus and Gwen, you are my world and I love you,” Walz added, as his entire family was in tears. “I tell you how we started a family because that represents a big part of what’s at stake in this election: freedom. When Republicans use the word ‘freedom,’ they mean the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office.”

Hunter Wants More Restrictions on Firearms

An avid hunter and National Guard veteran, Walz said he is a gun owner and believes in the constitutional right to own a firearm, but wants to protect children from being killed by assault weapons. During his years in Congress, Walz has repeatedly won the annual Congressional Shooting Competition.

“I know guns. I’m a veteran. I’m a hunter. And I was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress, and I won the trophies to prove it,” Walz said. “But I’m also a father. I believe in the Second Amendment, but I also believe that our first responsibility is to protect our children.”

Republicans’ definition of ‘freedom’ is targeted

Walz criticized Republicans for misusing the word “freedom” to justify abortion restrictions and for allowing companies to circumvent regulations. He said Democrats think differently about freedom.

“When Republicans use the word ‘freedom,’ they mean the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office. Corporations – free to pollute your air and water. And banks – free to take advantage of their customers,” Walz said. “But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to improve your life and the lives of the people you love. The freedom to make your own health care decisions. And yes, the freedom for your children to go to school without fear of being shot in the hallway.”

Walz Still Thinks Trump Is ‘Weird’

A few months ago, Walz drew attention by calling the Republican presidential agenda “bizarre,” a message that quickly dominated Harris’ campaign’s communications strategy. He continued to push that narrative during his DNC speech, calling Trump’s agenda “bizarre” and “dangerous.”

“I coached high school football long enough to know — and believe me — that when someone takes the time to develop a playbook, they’re going to use it,” Walz said, attempting to link Trump to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s controversial set of policy proposals for a future Trump administration from which Trump has sought to distance himself.

Walz listed several ways the Trump-Vance duo could hurt some Americans, including repealing the Affordable Care Act, cutting Social Security and Medicare, and banning abortion nationwide, with or without congressional support. “This is an agenda that no one asked for,” he added. “It’s an agenda that serves no one except the wealthiest and most extreme among us. And it’s an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need.”

“Is that weird?” Walz asked. “Absolutely. Absolutely. But it’s also wrong and dangerous.”

“What a leader is”

Walz took aim at Trump’s vindictive and erratic leadership style, telling the crowd that the high school presidents he knew as a teacher “could teach Donald Trump a lot about what it means to be a leader.”

The leaders are “getting the job done,” Walz said. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to move on from these guys.”

He added that Democrats have “something better” to offer the American people: Harris’ experience fighting transnational gangs and corporate fraud as a prosecutor and in her work as a U.S. senator and vice president, Walz said, has prepared her to fight “alongside the American people.”

“My boy, do we have the right team?”

Referring to his high school coaching days, Walz used several football analogies to explain how Democrats can win the presidency: “You may not know this, but I haven’t given a lot of big speeches like this,” Walz said in closing his speech. “But I’ve given a lot of pep talks.”

“So let me just finish with this,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee added. “The team, it’s the fourth quarter, we’re down by a field goal, but we’re on offense and we have the ball.” Walz continued: “We’re moving down the field. And, my goodness, we have the right team. Kamala Harris is tough, Kamala Harris is experienced, and Kamala Harris is ready. Our job is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and the tackling. One inch at a time, one yard at a time, one phone call at a time, one door knock at a time, one $5 donation at a time.”

Walz’s DNC speech gave many Americans their first glimpse of who he was, giving the campaign a chance to highlight his work as a teacher and football coach. Before Walz spoke, several former football players from Mankato West High School, where he once coached, rushed the convention stage.

“We played 4-4 defense,” Walz said in his speech. “We played to the final whistle on every play and we even won a state championship. Never close the yearbook, folks. But it was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress. They saw in me what I hoped to instill in them: a commitment to the common good, an understanding that we are all in this together, and a belief that one person can make a real difference for their neighbors.”