Tim Walz frees himself from his bubble

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — In the weeks following the vice presidential debate, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz sounded more like the aggressive campaigner who landed the role than the buttoned-up figure he has cut since joining the party.

Dressed in khakis and a navy Harris Walz sweatshirt on Monday, Walz delivered some of his sharpest attacks yet against former President Donald Trump. Walz looked more natural in his recent appearances on the trail, including in his signature flannel shirt in rural Pennsylvania, having ditched the blue blazer and white collared shirt he had favored in recent months.

He's also returning to television, with appearances on “The View” and “The Daily Show,” according to a campaign official, after Walz made his pre-race partner's choice “strange” by calling the GOP ticket “strange.” a cable news interview.

“I’m one or two more interviews short of being a regular on Fox News,” Walz said Tuesday at a campaign stop in Valencia, Pennsylvania. The Democrat appeared on “Fox News Sunday” two weekends in a row and said at the campaign stop that he returned to speak directly to undecided voters who were watching the network.

It's all part of what the Harris-Walz campaign described as a “more aggressive” approach to campaigning for Minnesota governor following her debate with Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance earlier this month. Previously, he had almost completely disappeared from television since becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee and avoided answering questions from the media.

In recent weeks, Walz has stormed swing states, appeared on multiple media platforms and escalated his attacks on the Trump-Vance ticket.

“Donald Trump talked over the weekend about using the U.S. military against people who disagree with him,” Walz said. “He called it the enemy within, and for Donald Trump, anyone who disagrees with him is the enemy. I'm not telling you this to scare you or anything, I'm telling you this because we need to kick his butt and put this guy behind us. That’s what you have to do.”

Walz was often vocal about Trump's age during the campaign, describing him as an “almost 80-year-old” – one of the many changes in the Democratic presidential campaign since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. This week, Walz said Trump, 78, did not release his medical records because he “forgot” to do so.

And on Tuesday night while campaigning in Pittsburgh, Walz said, “If that was your grandfather, you'd take the keys away from him,” as he discussed Trump's Monday night rally in Pennsylvania, where he chose to play music rather than questions of the town hall to answer.

Walz now also participates daily in several local television and radio hits, appears on podcasts and even made a late-night appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

“I wish this thing wasn’t so close,” Walz said during a recent fundraiser in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. He then referenced something he said his wife Gwen often told him.

“As my wife says, stop wishing and do the work,” Walz said.