Walz launching media blitz aimed at male voters

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), the Democratic nominee for vice president, is launching a media blitz this weekend with a focus on appealing to male voters as polls show Vice President Harris trailing with that demographic.

Walz kicked off his string of public appearances with an interview that aired Friday morning on “Good Morning America” with host and Super Bowl champion Michael Strahan. The two discussed Walz’s time as a high school football coach, as well as campaign issues like Walz’s criticism of the Electoral College.

The governor on Friday will return to Mankato West High School in Minnesota, where he was a teacher and football coach. The team won the state championship 25 years ago with Walz on the sidelines, and the governor will deliver a pep talk before the game, a Harris campaign official said.

Walz on Friday will also campaign in Michigan, where he will attend a political event focused on Black male voters, the campaign official said. He will also sit for local interviews in Michigan, as well as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The governor on Saturday will mark the opening of pheasant hunting season by joining a group of online influencers for an early morning hunt in Sleepy Eye, Minn., the campaign official said. Walz has spoken often about owning a gun for hunting and his transformation on supporting tougher gun laws to prevent school shootings.

Politico first reported on Walz's plans.

Walz’s campaign swing this weekend comes as the Harris campaign has sought to win over more male voters. 

A New York Times/Siena College survey published earlier this week showed Trump with a sizable lead over Harris nationally among likely male voters, 51 percent to 40 percent. That result is reflective of past polling that has found Trump with a double digit lead among men, while Harris runs far ahead of Trump with women voters.

The Harris campaign has taken some steps to try and address the problem, with the vice president going on the “All the Smoke” podcast with former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson and on Howard Stern’s radio show.

Former President Barack Obama held his first solo rally of the campaign on Thursday, and he made a direct appeal to Black men to back Harris over Trump.