The Democratic lawmaker called it ‘the most beautiful city’ he’s ever been in
By Alec Regimbal, Politics Reporter (SFGate.com)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz arrives to speak at a press conference regarding new gun legislation at City Hall on Aug. 1, 2024, in Bloomington, Minn. Walz gushed over San Francisco in a recent interview with the New York Times, calling it “the most beautiful city” he’s ever been in.Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — one of the Democratic lawmakers rumored to be in consideration for the role of Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate — gushed over San Francisco in a recent interview with the New York Times, calling it “the most beautiful city” he’s ever been in.
In a podcast with one of the outlet’s columnists, Ezra Klein, the Minnesota governor said conservatives tend to cast Democratic-run areas as “undesirable places” to live. He said that’s true of areas in his own state, like Minneapolis or the state’s “boundary waters.”
But he brought up San Francisco as one of the prime examples, saying the way Republicans have described the city didn’t jibe with his first trip here just last week.
“Stayed down there, I was doing some meetings. Woke up, I did my 5-mile run through the Presidio, to the Golden Gate,” he said. “Went back to my hotel, it was downtown, and end up leaving and I’m like, that is the most beautiful city I’ve ever been in.”
He went on to admit that San Francisco has problems but said issues like homelessness aren’t unique to the city, and that the way it’s been framed in the media is unfair.
“It was exotic to me,” he said. “I’ve seen San Francisco on TV, you know, hundreds of times and heard about it, and there I am driving around and I’m like a kid again. I’m like, ‘America is so awesome. San Francisco is just the greatest.’ And that’s the way people would feel.”
He added: “Go out to the boundary waters of Minnesota. Go to Northern Minnesota and look where the mining has happened for a hundred years. These were the beauty of America. And they’ve demonized these places.”
Harris, whose political career began in San Francisco and who officially became the Democratic nominee for president on Friday following President Joe Biden’s decision to terminate his reelection bid, is expected to announce her VP pick in the coming days. Walz, once a relatively obscure governor, has had a meteoric rise to prominence over the last few weeks for media interviews in which he’s frequently called the GOP “weird.”
The idea that Republicans are “weird” has become a central theme in Democratic campaign messaging. Walz is now considered to be on the short list for VP alongside other liberal contenders, such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
Aug 2, 2024
POLITICS REPORTER
Alec Regimbal is a politics reporter at SFGATE. He graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. A Washington State native, Alec previously wrote for the Yakima Herald-Republic and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He also spent two years as a political aide in the Washington State Legislature.
