WASHINGTON — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz bashed former President Donald Trump’s US-Mexico border policy in a viral clip last week — joking that Trump’s signature frontier wall was an opportunity to “invest in the 30-foot ladder factory.”
Walz, announced Tuesday as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the Nov. 5 election, has gained a reputation for trying use ridicule to flip the script on the GOP ticket of Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance – including by dismissing mockery of Harris as “weird,” inspiring other Democrats to use the line.
“[Trump] talks about this wall. I always say, ‘Let me know how high it is. If it’s 25 feet, then I’ll invest in the 30-foot ladder factory,” Walz, 60, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on July 30.
“That’s not how you stop this. You stop this using electronics, you stop it using more border patrol agents, and you stop it by having a legal system that allows for that tradition of allowing folks to come here just like my relatives did, to come here, be able to work and establish the American dream,” Walz said.
“He’s not interested in that. He wants to demonize,” Walz claimed — previewing his likely campaign-trail talking points.
“Look, we produce most of the turkeys that you’re going to eat on Thanksgiving [in Minnesota.] Those are immigrants working hard, establishing themselves here. What is [Trump] going to do? Is he going to take them all out?”
The quips did little to help Harris’ push to erase her history as the Biden administration’s failed “border czar” as the current VP attempts to position herself as the best person to handle the crisis at the southern border.
The border is a major liability for Harris, who became the presumptive Democratic nominee after Biden, 81, ended his campaign for a second term on July 21 over concerns about his mental acuity.
Biden tapped Harris in early 2021 to lead US efforts to reduce illegal immigration by addressing its root causes, but her tenure in that role coincided with further increases.
Walz blasted Trump for leaning on congressional Republicans earlier this year to block a bipartisan border deal that aimed to hasten asylum processing while also allowing the president the authority to shut down the border to asylum seekers hit a certain threshold.
Republican opponents of that plan said President Biden already had the power to make such a declaration — which Biden proceeded to do in June. Preliminary data suggest that that action has caused a reduction in illegal crossings after three years of sequential record highs.
Polls show that the border ranks high among voter priorities, alongside other topics such as the economy.
Trump, 78, is vowing to mass-deport illegal immigrants if he reclaims the White House and has referred to his election rival as “Border Czar Harris” in recent public remarks.
