Monday, Oct. 28, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Throughout Sunday’s blitz across Las Vegas, Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota highlighted the ramifications for reproductive healthcare if Republican Donald Trump reenters the White House.
While that isn’t new for a campaign that’s made codifying Roe v. Wade a centerpiece of its platform, Walz made a conscious effort to reach men in different audiences about the topic. Though Vice President Kamala Harris leads with women, she has a nine-point deficit between her and Trump among men, according to a recent CBS News poll.
“I’ll say to the guys here … the lives of the women in your lives are at stake during this election,” Walz said during a Raiders viewing party at La Vecindad Cantina. “This is preaching to the choir, but our recital is in nine days. We need to sing, and sing loudly.”
Walz also spoke at a stop of the “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour and at a Native Americans for Harris event at the MGM Grand Sunday. At each location, he drew stark contrasts between Harris and Trump.
Outside of Walz talking to men directly on reproductive health, Kaityln Joshua, a Louisianian who has spoken on the bus tour before, joined the governor and U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., near the Harris campaign’s Henderson office.
Joshua got pregnant shortly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which previously protected abortion rights federally. She immediately felt the decision’s effects. When Joshua tried to schedule her first prenatal appointment, she was told that she would have to wait a month.
“Because of the state’s abortion ban, prenatal appointments were being scheduled later when miscarriages are less common to avoid potential legal liability,” Joshua said. “Then at around 11 weeks, just one week before that first official prenatal appointment, I started experiencing major blood loss and pain worse than childbirth.”
After rushing herself to the hospital, doctors in Baton Rouge told her that the fetus she was carrying stopped growing. While Joshua knew at that moment she had a miscarriage, she said her healthcare team was afraid to tell her what was happening. She was sent home.
Joshua recalled her medical team “saying they would pray for me,” causing the crowd to groan.
After getting turned away from another hospital the next day, Joshua was forced to pass her pregnancy at home.
“Can I say what you just witnessed? You witnessed what courage looks like” Walz said. “Because of what Donald Trump did, Kaityln Joshua is traveling the country showing courage to make sure what happened to her doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
At the Native Americans for Harris event, Walz discussed how reproductive health issues disproportionately impact Indigenous people. Native American women suffer from double the rate of postpartum depression and maternal mortality compared to white people, according to a study out of Brown University.
Walz also attacked Trump for his handling of tribal issues, criticizing proposed cuts to the Indian Health Service which he said would risk healthcare coverage for millions of people.
The governor said Harris’ administration would instead give IHS proper funding while also upholding treaties and honoring tribal sovereignty. He called his state of Minnesota a model for state governments interacting with Indigenous tribes.
“We want to make sure that we’re there when it matters most,” Walz said. Harris was “the one who cast the tie-breaking vote on the single largest tribal investment in history: $32 billion that came from the COVID relief funds.”
The Minnesota Governor took shots at Trump in each speech. Next to the reproductive freedom bus, he drew a comparison between 1939’s Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City to the one Trump held there Sunday.
Speaking at the Native Americans for Harris event, he criticized the former President for saying in 1993 that he had “more Indian blood” than Native Americans trying to expand their casino businesses.
“He gets away with saying these things, let’s name that,” Walz said. “That is so damn racist and so unnecessary.”
The three events had local and out-of-state politicians show up in force. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono and Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., joined Walz on the trail.
“Nine days to make a difference to make a difference for the next four years,” Walz said. “Nine days to put Kamala Harris in the White House.”