Trump 'thrilled' with Harris tapping 'very liberal' Tim Walz as running mate: 'Shocking pick'

Former President Trump reacted Wednesday morning to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being tapped as Kamala Harris' running mate, saying he "could not be more thrilled" that the vice president made the "shocking pick."

"He's a very, very liberal man, and he's a shocking pick. I could not be more thrilled," Trump told the "Fox & Friends" co-hosts during an exclusive interview. 

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Trump then recalled one of the "only" times he had interacted with him, explaining how Walz reached out to him for help during the pandemic because his house was surrounded by anti-lockdown protesters. 

"They only had one guard, I guess it was at the mansion or his house in some form," he said. "And he called me and I said, ‘What do you want me to do about it?’ I was in the White House. He said, 'If you would put out the word that I'm a good person, and I did, I put out the word I said, 'He's a good person. I hope everything's good.' And everybody put down their flags and took their flags with them."

"But they took the American flags and their MAGA flags and they left it. It was thousands of people," he continued. 

The former president warned Walz is more radical than Harris on key issues like immigration and crime, as critics worry the Harris-Walz ticket could be the most far-left in the nation's history. 

"If you look at his record with no walls, no security, let everybody in. He's worse than they are," he said. "Nobody knew how radical left she was, but he's a smarter version of her, if you want to know the truth."

"There's never been a ticket like this," he continued. "This is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately, if not sooner. We want no security. We want no anything. He's very heavy into transgender. Anything transgender he thinks is great, and he's not where the country is on anything."

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Harris announced on Tuesday she chose Walz to be her vice presidential running mate, just hours before the pair made their first public appearance together at a campaign rally in Philadelphia. 

"I am proud to announce that I've asked @Tim_Walz to be my running mate," Harris officially announced on X. "As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his." 

The naming of the 60-year-old Walz was not a shocker, as his name was instantly thought to be in contention in the two weeks since Harris succeeded President Biden as the party's standard-bearer.

"This is a shocking pick, and I think it's very insulting to Jewish people," Trump said. "And I think it's very insulting to people that want security. I think it was very insulting to anything having to do with making America great again."

Walz, a former congressman, is in his second term as governor of Minnesota, a state that Democrats have reliably won in presidential elections for decades but that the Trump campaign has aimed at flipping this cycle.

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser, Brooke Singman and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

Bailee Hill is an associate editor with Fox News Digital. Story ideas can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.