{"id":26121,"date":"2024-08-15T04:11:04","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T04:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tim-walz-speaking-at-3-million-denver-fundraiser-attacks-trump-for-false-ai-crowd-claims\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:33:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:33:44","slug":"tim-walz-speaking-at-3-million-denver-fundraiser-attacks-trump-for-false-ai-crowd-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tim-walz-speaking-at-3-million-denver-fundraiser-attacks-trump-for-false-ai-crowd-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Walz, speaking at $3 million Denver fundraiser, attacks Trump for false AI-crowd claims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"FILE
FILE \u2013 Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo\/Julia Nikhinson, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Julia Nikhinson, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, speaking Wednesday at a campaign fundraiser in Denver, encouraged Democrats to maintain a breakneck pace heading into the final three months of the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n

\u201cSleep when you\u2019re dead,\u201d Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 recently selected running mate, told a fired up crowd.<\/p>\n

Some $3 million was raised at the event, according to host Tim Gill, a Democratic megadonor who opened up his central Denver estate \u2013 known as the Phipps Mansion \u2013 to about 150 people for the occasion. The Denver visit was part of a five-state fundraising swing for Walz, who is making his first solo appearances since he and Harris became the presumptive Democratic ticket in the presidential race.<\/p>\n

In a speech just shy of 15 minutes, Walz attacked Republicans for supporting school vouchers, wavering on financial support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, and for restricting abortion access.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to make your own health care decisions, not us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t need their help deciding which books we\u2019re going to read. We will decide that on our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also attacked former President Donald Trump for falsely claiming that photos showing large crowds at recent Harris-Walz events were generated by artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI assure you, in Detroit that wasn\u2019t AI,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll also assure you every one of the ballots that they\u2019re going to cast will not be AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walz said it\u2019s been an \u201cinteresting\u201d week since Harris named him on Aug. 6 as her vice president pick after President Joe Biden decided mid-election cycle not to seek reelection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a Minnesota word,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018Interesting,\u2019 Minnesotans know, has multiple meanings. They called me up, picked me up at my house last Tuesday, put me on a plane and flew me to Philadelphia and said \u2018here, you\u2019ve got 45 minutes. Give this speech off the teleprompter.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Walz said he had never used a teleprompter before.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitics is a means to an end, and that end is a better, fairer country for everyone,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t get elected to office to bank political capital for the next election. You get elected to office to burn that capital\u201d to make people\u2019s lives better.<\/p>\n

Walz also contrasted the life experiences of Trump and Harris, who as a kid worked part time at McDonalds.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you picture Donald Trump working at a McDonalds?\u201d Walz said. \u201cYou think he knows you? You think he knows who you are? You think he knows your family?\u201d<\/p>\n

Walz was accompanied at the event by his daughter, Hope. He was introduced by Gov. Jared Polis, the nation\u2019s first openly gay governor. Polis attacked Trump for being a convicted felon and for \u201cdestroying voting rights, destroying LGBTQ rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis arrives at the opening plenary session at the 2024 summer meeting of the National Governors Association on July 11 in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer\/Associated Press)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe future is the bright future that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are going to bring for every American \u2013 no matter who they are,\u201d said Polis, who has become a top Harris surrogate.<\/p>\n

Gill made his fortune as a software entrepreneur and is a prominent LGBTQ activist.<\/p>\n

\u201cVice President Harris and Gov. Walz are ready to carry the torch of liberty forward, ensuring that the gains we\u2019ve made aren\u2019t lost,\u201d Gill said, standing in the backyard of his 33,000-square-foot home.<\/p>\n

Gill said Walz\u2019s \u201cability to reach across the aisle while staying true to our Democratic values makes Tim exactly who we need at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gill\u2019s husband, Scott Miller, was nominated by Biden to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein and has held the job since 2021.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the fundraiser started at $1,000. Donors who gave at least $50,000 received an opportunity to get their photo taken with Walz.<\/p>\n

The money raised will go toward the Harris Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee benefiting Harris\u2019 campaign, state Democratic parties across the country and the Democratic National Committee.<\/p>\n

The fundraiser was attended by a list of top Colorado Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, Secretary of State Jena Griswold, and former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. Also in attendance were former U.S. Reps. John Salazar and Ed Perlmutter.<\/p>\n

Walz served in Congress with Polis, Salazar and Perlmutter.<\/p>\n

Walz, who didn\u2019t take questions from a small group of reporters at the event, was headed to Boston after his stop in Colorado.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democratic megadonor opens up his mansion to about 150 people for the occasion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2811,233,266,28,299,826,774,1126],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-26121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-campaign-finance","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-election","tag-headlines","tag-national-elections","tag-political-campaigns","tag-political-candidates","tag-politics-general"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79234,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26121\/revisions\/79234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26121"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=26121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}