In Flint, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz predicts women will send Donald Trump a message Tuesday
FLINT – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appealed directly to men to support Vice President Kamala Harris during a campaign event in Flint on Friday, but said he believes support from women will push her campaign across the finish line and make her the next president of the United States.
Polls show a massive and possibly widening gender gap in Tuesday's presidential election, with Republican Donald Trump leading among male voters by 6 percentage points or more, but trailing among women voters by double digits.
"Think about the women you love," Walz, who is running for vice president, said to men who were among about 250 supporters gathered in a hangar at Flint's Bishop International Airport. With Trump appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade precedent that for decades ensured abortion rights and several states now imposing strict abortion bans, "their lives are literally at stake in how this election goes."
With four days to go to Election Day, "Kamala Harris and I ... have a feeling that women across this country of any age, of either party, are going to send a loud and clear message to Donald Trump," Walz said.
Walz, a former congressman, has been governor of Minnesota since 2019. The military veteran and former high school teacher and assistant football coach started his day in Michigan in Detroit and spoke for about 20 minutes in Flint before heading to a final Friday event in Traverse City.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita said Walz thinks women and other voters are stupid if he believes they will support four more years of a Biden-Harris administration marked by high inflation and large numbers of undocumented migrants crossing the Mexico-U.S. border.
"That’s why Michiganders are going to kick both Walz and Kamala to the curb on Nov. 5 when they re-elect President Donald J. Trump," LaCivita said in an emailed statement.
Colleen Joseph, of Flint, a retired nurse, said she agrees with political observers who believe polls may be underestimating the support Harris has among women.
Some Harris voters may be shy to admit it, but when they "get behind that screen, they're going to vote for Kamala Harris," Joseph said as she waited in line for the Walz event in Flint, adding she is confident of a Democratic victory Tuesday.
Flint resident Sharlette Kate said she attended the Harris rally at Flint's Dort Financial Center on Oct. 4 but was excited to see Walz on Friday for the first time.
Kate, who has already voted, said she feels confident but is knocking on doors and "calling everybody I know just to make sure we turn out the vote." She said she thinks "the ground game is going to be very, very, very important."
Earlier Friday, in Detroit, Walz kicked off a roundtable discussion with Black business leaders at the Westin Book Cadillac downtown by heaping praise on Michigan’s biggest city.
He shared that he went to Belle Isle in the morning, calling it “gorgeous” and then said Minnesota Vikings fans “are perfectly fine with the Lions’ success.”
Walz used the conversation as a kind of temperature check on the campaign from those on the ground before heading to the UAW Region 1A’s union hall in Taylor, where he fired up a small crowd of supporters affiliated with unions that have endorsed Harris.
“Momentum’s on our side. We’ve got four days left. We’re taking nothing for granted,” he said. “This game is tied. There’s two minutes left, folks. The good news is, we’ve got the ball.” And he called Harris “the best quarterback in the league” while her GOP rival, Walz said, was fumbling.
“And look, you saw it. You’ve seen it and it happened again today. Donald Trump continues to spiral into a hateful, divisive place where we don’t want to go,” Walz said.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: In Flint, Walz predicts women will send Donald Trump a message Tuesday