Gwen Walz, wife of Minnesota Governor and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz (D), took aim at former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio), during her first solo campaign event in Manassas, Virginia. Her speech focused on reproductive rights, including access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), and condemned recent remarks by Vance about family planning and childless individuals.
Walz, a former English teacher, emphasized her passion for education and shared her personal journey with infertility, highlighting the couple’s reliance on fertility treatments to conceive their first child, Hope. “This is really personal for me and for millions of Americans,” she said.
Addressing JD Vance’s Comments
Walz criticized Vance’s resurfaced 2021 comments, in which he disparaged childless teachers and suggested educators like American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten “should have children of their own” before commenting on others’ parenting.
Speaking directly to Vance’s remarks, Walz said, “For a long time, Tim and I were teachers who struggled with infertility and were only able to start a family because of fertility treatments. We do not take kindly to folks like JD Vance telling us when or how to start our families.”
In a pointed rebuke, she added, “Let me use my teacher voice: Mr. Vance, how about you mind your own business?”
Criticism of Trump on Reproductive Rights
Walz also accused Trump of endangering reproductive healthcare access, specifically IVF, by dismantling Roe v. Wade and backing policies that jeopardize fertility treatments. “Donald Trump is the one who took down Roe and put access to IVF at risk. That’s a fact,” she stated.
She further charged that Trump is attempting to obscure his record on reproductive rights, saying, “He knows that position is wildly unpopular—and guess what? That’s a fact.”
Response from JD Vance’s Camp
In response, Vance’s spokesperson, Taylor Van Kirk, defended the senator’s stance on education, arguing that “left-wing indoctrination” in schools is the real threat to American children. Van Kirk asserted that Vance’s criticism of Weingarten was not aimed at teachers broadly but at efforts to push “anti-American propaganda” into school curriculums.
“JD is committed to ending leftist indoctrination in our schools and will continue to loudly call this crap out to defend kids,” Van Kirk added.
A Campaign Focus on Families and Rights
Walz’s remarks underscored a central theme of the Walz-Harris campaign: defending reproductive healthcare and supporting families. By sharing her personal story and addressing policies that affect millions of Americans, she aimed to galvanize support from voters concerned about reproductive rights and education policy.
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