Live updates: Kamala Harris picks Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her VP

Kamala Harris’s selection of Tim Walz as her running mate has been greeted with delight by the Human Rights Campaign, which says in a press statement that the choice of the Minnesota Governor makes it clear a Harris Administration would build on the Biden-Harris legacy of being the most pro-equality in American history.

“There’s no doubt – Kamala Harris has electrified the nation and breathed new hope into the race,” said Kelley Robinson, Human Rights Campaign President. “Her pick of Governor Walz sends a message that a Harris-Walz Administration will be committed to advancing equality and justice for all. That is the choice we are faced with in America. A Trump-Vance Administration that would demonize LGBTQ+ people, terrorize our families, send our rights and freedoms back to The Land Before Time and install Project 2025. Or a Harris-Walz Administration that will fight for our freedoms, defend our families, and make America a place where people don’t just get by — but can get ahead.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose own ambitions for the White House fell apart in spectacularly underwhelming fashion during the Republican primaries, offers his two cents on the Harris pick.

Here’s the first response from the MAGA camp:

“Governor Tim Walz and Kamala Harris will get along just great. They’re both far-left radicals that don’t know how to govern. Tim Walz allowed one of the largest fraud schemes to happen under his watch. The Feeding Our Future case found that dozens in Minnesota stole $250 million in federal funds meant to help out hungry children. A June report from Minnesota’s legislative auditor found that Walz’s administration ‘failed miserably in its duty to properly oversee millions of federal dollars it administered to nonprofits to feed children.’ The report said that Walz’s incompetence ‘created opportunities for fraud.’

“Axios reported: ‘The report highlighted several ways in which the Walz administration failed to rein in the fraud, undercutting the governor’s longstanding claims that his agency staff deserve credit, not criticism, for their efforts to catch and stop it.’

“Walz has creepy far-left views. Walz signed legislation to ensure minors from not only his state, but across the country can get sex-change operations in Minnesota. Walz also signed a bill to require schools to stock period products in boys bathrooms .

“Tim Walz did nothing while Minneapolis burned. He sat back while the rioters that Kamala would bail out burned down a city. Even the liberal mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, criticized Tim Walz’s response to the riots.

“Tim Walz will work with Border Czar Kamala Harris to give your taxpayer dollars to the rest of the world. Under Tim Walz, Minnesota gives free college tuition to illegal immigrants.”

Fair to say they’re not on board.

Here’s Eric Garcia on Kamala’s choice, which we almost forgot about amid all the excitement.

It’s Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz, according to reports from AP and CNN.

The liberal governor has been chosen as Kamala Harris’ running mate as she looks to boost the Democratic ticket in the Midwest, with his Pennsylvania counterpart Josh Shapiro missing out.

Here’s our profile of Walz.

Vice President Kamala Harris has decided on a running mate, AP sources say, with an announcement due in the coming hours.

She reportedly went to bed last night without having definitively made up her mind, CNN reported earlier, the candidate wanting one last chance to sleep on her decision.

That means that Harris will only now be informing her chosen running mate, as well as the advisers around her, sometime this morning.

Nevertheless, preparations for the eventual announcement — including preparatory work for this evening’s Philadelphia rally, where Harris and her running mate will appear together for the first time – have had to go on, even with the campaign stuck in waiting mode.

To that end, her team has had to have multiple versions of signs printed featuring Harris’ name alongside those of Shapiro, Walz and others.

Here’s Eric Garcia on why Minnesota’s Governor, who has relished labelling Trump and JD Vance “weird”, could be the smart pick.

Now that we’re reportedly down to a final two, here’s a look at the two contenders to be Harris’ prospective running mate in detail.

First up, here’s John Bowden on the Pennsylvania Governor.

We’re expecting an emailed statement and concurrent social media announcement, probably by video, at some point today announcing Harris’ final decision on her running mate, which, as we’ve seen, looks like being either Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro or Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

The news will have to break in good time for this evening’s rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – where Shapiro could presumably expect a hero’s welcome – which kicks off at 5.30pm local time (10.30pm GMT).

It’s taking place at Temple University’s Liacouras Center in the north of the city, a venue which claims to have up to 10,000 seats and is the largest indoor public assembly venue north of City Hall at 340,000 square feet.

After tonight, Harris and her running mate will “crisscross the country, traveling to battleground states to meet voters where they are and highlight the stakes of this election”, according to a statement from her campaign.

That whistle stop tour will take them, over the next five days, to Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; The Research Triangle in North Carolina; Phoenix, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Over in Donald Trump’s social media dungeon, he’s been desperately pushing a new nick name for Harris: “Kamabla”.

I don’t know, is he losing the magic? Doesn’t do much for me.

He has also been attacking one of his favourite media enemies, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, over the veteran journalist’s brutal takedown of MAGA Florida Congressman Bryon Donalds on Sunday, which you can see for yourself below.

The Republican told Adin Ross that he would like to “fire” ABC News journalist Rachel Scott, who grilled him about his past comments about race during a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists convention last week.

During his appearance on Ross’s livestream on Kick on Monday, Trump was asked for his reaction to the event, which his campaign appeared to cut short by 30 minutes when it was clear that he led the session off the rails.

“This woman starts talking… about racism, and I said, ‘You didn’t even say hello to me,’ and I’m doing them a favor by doing this,” Trump told Ross on Monday.

“I’m doing this out of respect to the Black community.”

Scott has since said she has received death threats in the wake of Trump’s embarrassment at the event.