'Never heard of him': Harris VP pick Walz has little notoriety among Trump-Vance voters in PA

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Trump-Vance voters slam relatively unknown Harris VP pick Walz in swing state Pennsylvania: 'Socialist'

Pennsylvanians react to Vice President Kamala Harris' choice of running mate Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., at an event Tuesday for Donald Trump's VP pick, Sen. JD Vance.

Voters in Pennsylvania in attendance at a campaign event for Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, reacted to Vice President Kamala Harris' announcement of her running mate on Tuesday, with many of them having never heard of him before. 

"Never heard of him," Sheila Armstrong from Philadelphia told Fox News Digital in response to Harris' choice of Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn.

"Not before today," she explained. 

She even joked, "I was looking on the map where Minnesota was at again."

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Walz was announced as Harris' running mate on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Thomas Quinn from Downingtown also hadn't heard of Walz prior to his inclusion on the vice president's short list. 

"Which is why I have not done any homework," he said. "I don't really know much about him. I understand it takes a lot to be a governor. And I also understand that he's a veteran… So I really don't know that much about it, but I'll do my reading."

Cliff Skinner, also from the Keystone State, said he had "never" heard of Walz either. He added that he was "not really too impressed" by the selection. 

"I had not. I have to be honest," replied Kaitlin Derstine from Montgomery County when asked by Fox News Digital if she had known who Walz was before he was being vetted as a potential running mate for Harris. 

She remarked that the news she was already seeing about him was "not very good," and suggested, "I think that [Harris] probably chose him based on his appearance and what she needed to complement her on her candidacy."

Perry Petrongola from South Philadelphia had similarly known "not a whole lot" about Walz. 

"I believe he's the governor of Minnesota. He's very liberal and against guns." He summarized Walz as having a "typical liberal agenda."

"Two liberals, birds of a feather, flock together," he claimed. 

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Harris and Walz had their first rally in Philadelphia. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Those who had heard of the relatively unknown Walz were not happy with what they knew. "I know that he is extremely left, and he also is in agreement with sexual reassignment of, and mutilating young kids," said Leah Hoops from Delaware County. "And he is also allowing illegals to vote in our elections."

"I think he's more socialist, going toward her agenda," explained Linda DellaPia from South Philadelphia. "Look at the raids that happened in his home state, that he allowed it, and he actually bailed people out," she said, referencing the 2020 riots in Minnesota following the death of George Floyd. 

"Why didn't he bring in the national services – the National Guard – to actually help alleviate some of those tensions?" she asked. 

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Building goes up in flames during George Floyd riots. (Getty Images)

"He was a part of the conversation when the George Floyd riots and all of that came about," DellaPia recalled. 

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital at Tuesday's rally, "I think that the Harris campaign and the DNC has decided to go with someone who more matches with Kamala Harris."

"Gov. Walz is a self-proclaimed socialist, so clearly they feel comfortable with someone who's a self-proclaimed socialist, as opposed to someone like Josh Shapiro, who's quite liberal and quite left-leaning, but, apparently a little too rational and sane for them," he said, referencing the speculation that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro would be chosen as her running mate. 

"The fact that Gov. Josh Shapiro was very supportive of the state of Israel – I can't help but think that that weighed in, because there's really no other reason, when Pennsylvania is such a swing state and so meaningful to this race, that they didn't choose someone from Pennsylvania," the congressman said. 

According to Meuser, "We would have lost some votes. I mean, that's the reality. And it would have been a little closer" if Shapiro had been chosen.

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Shapiro was also being vetted as a potential running mate. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"It just shows what the DNC and the Harris campaign is about. They are about socialism. They are about sanctuary cities. They're about open borders. They're about big government, small economy. And they have the most anti-American energy ticket that you can imagine," he said. 

"Outside of that, they're wonderful," he joked. 

On the Shapiro running mate snub, Trump-Vance supporters were thankful that Harris chose Walz. DellaPia claimed Shapiro would have been "the smarter move."

"I'm glad she didn't pick Shapiro," she said. 

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Armstrong echoed this sentiment, remarking, "I'm just happy she didn't pick Josh Shapiro."

"Pennsylvania is already a messy state when it comes to elections and voting. By picking Josh Shapiro, it would have made the process even more messier," she claimed. "And I would say it would have been more likelihood of people to cheat and do illegal things, because it would have been a homegrown person versus somebody that they didn't know."

Fox News reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment.

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