Chuck Todd believes Vice President Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her presidential bid running mate to avoid political “dust-ups” in her campaign for presidency moving forward, saying he’s the less risky choice.
“That’s what I’m taking away from this,” Todd explained on Tuesday. “She is the leader of the Democratic Party right now, and if you told me her calculation is, ‘Look, I don’t want any new dust-ups inside the party, we’ve got to be as united as we can.’ If you looked at your three candidates that way — if she’d have picked [Mark] Kelly, it would have been an acknowledgement that she’s got a border problem and this is a way to lean in to it. With Shapiro, I think picking Shapiro, she basically, it would be seen as a strategic pick.”
He added that Harris’ final decision for Walz raised a “yellow flag in my head going, ‘Huh, if you squeal loud enough, she hears and responds,’” nodding to mounting concerns over the progressive Left’s reaction to Shapiro’s support of Israel in the ongoing Israel-Hamas War in Gaza. (Shapiro is Jewish.)
“There is going to be people that will come away from this experience thinking, ‘Huh, the progressive backlash is what got her off of Shapiro or what got her off of Kelly’ … On substance, I can’t help but have that takeaway.”
Watch the full MSNBC segment in the video below:
On Tuesday, Harris announced that she’d officially selected Walz as her running mate after skimming through several potential suitors, also including Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Kelly and the current secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg. Each option brought their own strengths and possible weaknesses, but Todd says Harris’ decision was likely rooted in how well she and Walz’s beliefs, personalities and policies aligned. His ability to communicate like an everyday American also bolstered his prospects.
“Most presidents learn over time that the best way to pick a vice president is for somebody you’re personally comfortable with, is somebody who shares your philosophy,” Todd said. “And I think going — I think Tim Walz won this, I think, in hindsight. There’s not a long history of Walz and Harris having a personal relationship. I think Walz won this on TV. I think Walz was able to show that he can do the things you need a running mate to do: go on the attack, keep your opponents on their feet, but translate your governing style to a different constituency. Look, I like to say, you know, sometimes people speak Washington and sometimes people speak American. Tim Walz speaks American. You know? He’s not going to tell you about his subcommittee chair. I have a feeling he won’t talk about the veterans committee, he’ll just talk about helping veterans. So in that sense, it strikes me that that’s what Harris is looking for.”
Watch Todd’s full MSNBC commentary in the video above.
