During their two-day bus tour through rural Georgia, VP Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), stopped by a marching band group at Liberty County High School. During the visit, the vice president talked about leadership and teamwork. Some critics of the spontaneous talk called what she said “painful to watch.”
An ex-high school teacher and coach, Walz started his visit on Wednesday by telling the kids they are the future and talking about how important school is. In his speech, he called Harris “the next president of the United States” and “a really great head coach.”
“We came by to let you know that all of you are important to our country,” Harris said with big hand and arm movements. “Just by being here, you are all leaders.”
She kept talking in long, broken words and making more big hand movements. “Doing what you do at this great school. Putting it together as a group. Knowing how all the different parts fit together to make a team.”
“We are so proud of you because you are doing some of the best work anyone can do. And we depend on you,” she told them all.
The vice president talked more about what she thought about being a leader.
He said, “Your age, everything you stand for, and everything you have at stake is what will take our country to the next level of what we can do.”
As Harris moved to a different part of the room, her speech became more moving.
“I also want to tell you that you should always lead the way you choose to lead. Know that you don’t need to ask anyone for approval. I believe you all understand that. You’ve made the choice to lead. When you do that, you’re also role models, right? Welcome to the role model club. Let me guess: being a role model means that people in your family, neighborhood, or class watch you and learn how to do things the right way.”
MSNBC host Jen Psaki liked Harris’s speech and thought the high school stop was “real.”
“They’re definitely interested in parents, grandparents, people whose kids are in bands, and other people in that group if they show up at a high school. But I also love these stops in the area because they show how real things are. You look at that and compare it to J.D. Vance at the donut shop,” the former press secretary for Biden said.
People on social media had different reactions to Harris’s speech. Some said it made them think of when she used to talk to big groups of people as a kindergarten teacher.
“When Kamala Harris tries to teach a group of high school students what “teamwork” means, she acts like a kindergarten teacher.” Charles Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, said on X, “Painful to watch.”
Someone on social media asked, “Why does Kamala talk to these high schoolers like they’re toddlers?”
Someone else joked, “Another Kamala word salad, a bunch of word salad about ‘leadership’ to high schoolers, each of whom can probably speak better than she can.”
“Kamala talks to a high school band about how teams work together as if they were five years old. I don’t understand why her managers never let her talk without a script,” someone else said.
