Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Joe Scarborough Says Tim Walz Brings Lack Of Political Balance To Harris Ticket

Screenshot/Grabien/MSNBC

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said on Tuesday that Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz does not bring political balance to the Democratic ticket because he is as progressive as Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris chose Walz as her running mate on Tuesday to face off against Republican nominee Donald Trump and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance. Scarborough said Walz and Harris are both viewed as progressives who may not appeal to the moderate base of the Democratic Party.

“It seems that progressives love Walz, he is a progressive,” Scarborough said. “There wouldn’t be a lot of ideological balance there between Kamala Harris and Governor Walz … you would have two people viewed as progressives inside the Democratic Party instead of an ideological mix like you might have with Shapiro. Is this the whole idea that they’re going to excite the base and this is gonna be a base election? They don’t care who moderates in Pennsylvania or other states think?”

Joe Scarborough says Tim Walz is just as far-left as Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com/8XD1dKHXQK

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 6, 2024

Reverend Al Sharpton said the candidates need to moderate the ticket to “ensure Americans” they will hear all sides. He said Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro would have provided a moderate balance to the ticket, but argued the good qualities of Walz “outweighs the bad.”

“But I think you have to balance whether they want to just energize the base and go on [the] progressive side and we’re going sort of ideologically one ticket. All whether you want to have balance to ensure Americans you’re going to hear all sides, and Shapiro represents that without going too far,” Sharpton said.

Scarborough argued Walz is a safer choice than Shapiro as many Democratic voters hesitated to support the Pennsylvania governor for being Jewish. The MSNBC host noted that Walz has been as supportive of Israel as Shapiro and a bigger proponent of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Walz has appeared to be far-left of center on issues pertaining to transgender minors, illegal immigration and abortion. The Minnesota governor signed legislation granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants in the state on March 7, 2023.

Walz further signed an executive order to allow minors to receive gender hormone and sex reassignment surgeries on March 8, 2023, saying he wants every Minnesotan to feel “safe, valued, protected, celebrated and free to exist.” The executive order further barred Minnesota from helping states “penalize” the procedures or arrest individuals charged with violating out-of-state laws regarding sex changes.

Walz signed the state’s “trans refuge” legislation into law on April 27, 2023, to prevent the enforcement of out-of-state laws that would remove a child from their parents for receiving transgender medical procedures.

The Minnesota governor codified abortion into the Minnesota Constitution by signing the Protective Reproductive Options Act into law in May 2023, which set no limits on when an abortion can be performed in the state. The law was signed as Walz supported a comprehensive set of left-wing legislative priorities at the conclusion of the Minnesota state Legislature’s 2023 legislative session.

Featured image credit. Screenshot/Grabien/MSNBC