Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke said he's "really surprised" that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was picked as Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris' running mate because he's "so genuinely kind and nice."
"I was actually really surprised that he was in contention to be nominated for vice president of the United States and surprised that he got picked, only because it is so rare that someone who is so genuinely kind and nice and isn't a blowhard and a grandstander and a self-promoter ever reaches these levels of political attainment in this country," the Texas Democrat told MSNBC's "Inside with Jen Psaki" on Monday, The Hill reported.
O'Rourke said Walz is "just that rare person, who's just truly a good guy, who's gotten ahead by getting the job done."
O'Rourke's compliments come as Walz faces accusations from Republicans of lying about his service records and that he's a liberal whose policies fall to the left of Harris's.
Walz and O'Rourke served in the House from 2013-19. O'Rourke also briefly ran in the 2020 presidential race, as did Harris.
O'Rourke praised some of the Walz policies that have come under fire from Republicans.
"As governor of Minnesota, he's made sure that kids can learn on a full belly," O'Rourke said of Walz's school lunch policy.
O'Rourke also noted that Walz was behind decriminalizing marijuana in Minnesota, so that the state was "not putting people behind bars for something that's legal in most of the rest of the country.”
Walz had been in contention for the running mate spot against two reported finalists, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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