VP nominee Walz fires up Democratic base at fundraiser in Newport. Here's what he said. (2024)

NEWPORT – Vice-presidential hopeful Gov. Tim Walz swept by Bellevue Avenue mansions Thursday firing up Rhode Island Democrats, dishing out zingers at former President Donald Trump and taking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Ocean State donor base.

In a 17-minute teleprompter-and-notes-free speech at Salve Regina University's Ochre Court, Walz delivered his now signature attack line that his GOP opponents are "weird" and described their vision for the country as "dystopian."

"These guys are rooting for failure," Walz said, surrounded by stained-glass windows, ornate woodwork and more than 300 Democratic donors. "It doesn't inspire people. And their one-trick pony of fear and 'the country is terrible,' and this whole dystopian vision of things – that runs out when it runs into the face of American optimism."

Contrasting the Democratic ticket against the GOP

By contrast, he described himself as a teacher and coach from the "Sand Hills" of Nebraska. And he described Democratic presidential nominee and sitting Vice President Kamala Harris as a regular resident of Oakland, California, who had to work at McDonald's growing up.

"Can you picture that guy making a McFlurry?" Walz said of Trump, to a wave of laughter from the crowd. "Can you picture him playing Frisbee with his dog, giving him a belly rub?"

Walz played Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" on his way to an evening fundraiser in Southampton, New York.

Walz's appearance was not open to the public, but as he left for Southampton, his message resonated with the Democratic partisans in the room.

"The enthusiasm and I think our financial support is going to help in some battleground states, Rhode Island AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Patrick Crowley said as he left the event. "And I think we will probably attract some volunteers to go work in some other states."

How much did Walz raise in Rhode Island?

Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairwoman Liz Beretta-Perik said she came away impressed by her first time seeing Walz, and said the $1,000 minimum-per-person fundraiser brought in at least $600,000 for the Harris-Walz campaign.

RI GOP swipes at Walz; fundraiser draws small protest

Rhode Island Republicans were not impressed, and in a preemptive release Thursday morning, the state GOP said it was "proven time and again that [Walz] is not the leader Rhode Island – or any state – needs."

"While Minnesota burned, Governor Walz played the role of Nero, fiddling as his state descended into violence and destruction, while his wife stood by inhaling the fumes of burning tires, a haunting image of leadership failure at its worst," Rhode Island GOP Chairman Joe Powers said in a news release, referring to the riots in Minnesota that followed the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

One woman with a Trump flag was walking up and down Narragansett Avenue before the event.

Some on the Rhode Island left, unhappy with President Joe Biden's handling of the Israel-Gaza war, are shifting that dissatisfaction to the Harris-Walz ticket. Around a dozen protestors gathered on the corner of Narragansett Avenue and Ochre Point Avenue with Palestinian flags and signs.

A detour on the Newport Cliff Walk, which is undergoing repairs, brought confused tourists to the edge of the security perimeter and protesters.

What happened at the Newport fundraiser?

Walz was introduced by Gov. Dan McKee, who hit back at GOP attacks that Walz exaggerated his military service in the Minnesota National Guard and avoided being deployed to Iraq.

"I know how important the National Guard is," McKee said. He said Walz, "like many governors, knows how to get things done."

Rhode Island's congressional delegation warmed up the crowd, with Sen. Jack Reed leading a "Harris-Walz" chant.

The main thrust of Walz's Ochre Court remarks painted Trump and his running mate Sen. J.D. Vance as angry and extreme while Harris, in his telling, is joyful and relatable.

"I have never seen this guy laugh. If he has laughed, it's at someone, not with someone," Walz said of Trump. "I think it bothers them a lot, because vice president [Harris] here is smiling and she's bringing the joy."

On policy, he talked about reducing the price of insulin, protecting abortion rights, funding public schools and "common sense gun regulations."

"Look, you can have the freedom to own a gun, but our children should be free to go to school and not be worried about being shot in that class," he said, then accusing Republicans of wanting to ban books.

"They want label us off-the-edge progressive or something like that," he said. "[We] are more mainstream than you can imagine. I guarantee you, there's nobody sitting in a bar up in Wisconsin saying what we really need in America is to ban George Orwell."