US election live updates: Harris selects Tim Walz, who first called Trump ‘weird’, as vice president

Kamala Harris has announced that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will join her as running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, after formally clinching her party’s nomination for the White House on Monday.

Following her rapid rise in the wake of President Joe Biden’s decision last month to step aside, the Vice President has had less than two weeks to pick a deputy, with the complicated business of vetting candidates having to take place at lightning pace.

State governors Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper and JB Pritzker plus Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg were all understood to be in contention at various stages, with Harris holding final interviews at her Washington DC residence on Sunday before making a final choice on who would be best placed to help her beat Donald Trump and JD Vance at the ballot box in November.

Walz has proven himself a popular governor and has enjoyed success in recent days attacking Trump and Vance as “weird”, landing blows the Republicans have struggled to respond to.

Harris and Walz will now appear together at a rally in Philadelphia this evening, where the new man can expect a rapturous reception.

Emilie Simons, White House senior deputy press secretary, says that President Joe Biden spoke with both Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz this morning.

“This morning, the President and Vice President spoke on the phone ahead of her official announcement that she selected Governor Tim Walz as her Vice Presidential nominee. The President also spoke with Governor Walz to congratulate him on his selection.”

President Joe Biden released the following statement as Vice President Kamala Harris selects her own vice presidential running mate:

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