Tim Walz keeps focus on economy, women’s rights at rallies in Flagstaff, Tucson

PHOENIX — Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, appeared at two rallies in Arizona on Saturday, three days before Election Day on Nov. 5.

The Minnesota governor first spoke in Flagstaff for just short of a half-hour before making his way to Tucson.

In Flagstaff, Walz not only touched on the economy, women’s healthcare rights, abortion access and Donald Trump, but also talked about Indigenous voters.

“The sovereignty of our Indigenous tribes is paramount and we’re making sure here in Arizona when (Kamala Harris) is president, we keep our promises,” Walz said.

In both speeches, he took slights at Trump and said, “How great is it gonna be just not to see him on TV anymore?”

Walz, who was back in Arizona for his fifth trip, appeared at Tucson High School around 5 p.m. and spoke for about 25 minutes.

The Democratic nominee urged voting for Harris and emphasized how close the election is expected to be, noting the election may be determined by Arizona.

“And here’s the good news,” Walz said. “We’re winning. We’re winning. Now notice, I didn’t say ‘we’ve won,’ because there’s work to do …

“We’ve got work to do yet. This thing is not decided and it’s going to be close. You know it better than anybody, this thing very well could be won in the state of Arizona.”

He took plenty of more swipes at Trump and said 2.7 million jobs were lost under the Trump economy before referencing the pandemic.

“The way he botched the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of Americans died unnecessarily,” Walz said. “The rest of us were out there in battles to try and find hand sanitizer and toilet paper is how bad things got.

“So if you think back, that economy that they liked if you were a billionaire or a millionaire, you might like it because you got a tax cut, the rest of us got squat during that time because that’s how Donald Trump thinks. He doesn’t spend time thinking about ways to improve your life. In fact, he doesn’t spend any time thinking about you.”

Walz later mocked Trump for the former president having a picture of himself on his phone lockscreen.

“It’s true,” Walz said. “That ought to tell you where he’s at.”

Walz, a veteran and hunter, talked about gun rights and said he wants to stand up and protect the Second Amendment “while also upholding our first responsibility, to protect children.”

The Minnesota governor then slighted Trump for the three Supreme Court justices he appointed which ultimately led to the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Twenty-one states, including Arizona, now have abortion bans or stricter restrictions than when Roe v. Wade was overturned.

On Thursday, Trump proposed the idea of appointing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be in charge of women’s health, to which Walz took a jab at.

“Donald said that if you’re a woman, he’ll be your protector,” Walz said. “He can’t even open the door of a garbage truck, let alone do this.”

Walz touches on the economy

Walz later turned his focus to the economy and Harris’ plans.

Lowering the cost of living via a federal ban on price gouging Harris wants to enact and the 100 million Americans that would see a tax cut under Harris’ child tax credits were some of his key points.

Creating millions of more units of affordable housing and offering down-payment assistance of $25,000 for homebuyers were further points of emphasis.

Walz also said the average small business costs about $40,000 to start and said the current $5,000 tax credit is not enough.

He later mentioned the $50,000 tax credit Harris is proposing to give to small businesses to get them off the ground.

“And when asked, ‘How will we pay for this for starters? We can have Donald Trump pay his federal tax for a change.'”

Walz made a strong closing statement and touched on how pivotal this election could be.

“And all of you, the older folks will get, the younger folks trust me, they’ll come a day someday, you’re going to be sitting on that porch, you’re going to be in that rocking chair.

And a little one’s going to come up to you. After having been in school where they’ve been studying the 2024 election.

And they’re going to ask:

“When everything was on the line and the American experiment was on the line and there was somebody running who asked to be a dictator and to overturn the Constitution and talk about using the military against our own people.

“What did you do to stop that from happening? And you’re going to be able to say every damn thing we could, every damn thing we could.”

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