O’Rourke ‘surprised’ Walz was picked as Harris’s running mate

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) lauded the pick of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as Vice President Harris’s running mate Monday but said he was “really surprised” that his former House colleague was even in contention for the national ticket.

“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,” O’Rourke said on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”

“He’s just that rare person, who’s just truly a good guy, who’s gotten ahead by getting the job done,” O’Rourke added.

O’Rourke and Walz served in the House together from 2013-19, and O’Rourke ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary along with Harris.

“As governor of Minnesota, he’s made sure that kids can learn on a full belly,” O’Rourke said. “That we decriminalize marijuana … we’re not putting people behind bars for something that’s legal in most of the rest of the country.”

Late last week, O’Rourke praised Harris’s and Walz’s campaign.

“Instead of hatred, there is hope,” O’Rourke said of the Democratic ticket in an interview Friday with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace.

He said he is “proud of” the Democratic running mates “for finding this moment, and getting kind of past the stuff that gets cooked up in political laboratories, or the corporate side of our politics.”

Walz beat out Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) as the reported finalists to join Harris after President Biden exited the race.

The Minnesota governor was a 24-year veteran of the National Guard, as well as a high school teacher and football coach before jumping into politics.