Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz told a local Michigan outlet that he believes anti-Israel protesters are "speaking out for all the right reasons," echoing similar rhetoric from his boss, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
"I think those folks who are speaking out loudly in Michigan are speaking out for all the right reasons. It's a humanitarian crisis. It can't stand the way it is, and we need to find a way that people can live together in this," Walz told WCMU, an NPR affiliate radio station.
Walz put pressure on Israel, without mentioning Hamas, to find a two-state solution, calling on "the Netanyahu government to start moving in that direction."
Walz's comments come as large anti-Israel protests plague Michigan. Just last week, at the University of Michigan, students gathered for a raucous "die-in" demonstration on campus that had to be broken up by police officers. In April, protesters in Dearborn, Michigan, shouted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" during an International Al-Quds Day march.
Walz’s support also echoes that of his boss, Vice President Harris, who defended anti-Israel agitators, saying she "understands the emotion behind it" in a July interview.
"They are showing exactly what the human emotion should be as a response to Gaza," Harris said. "There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it."
In his WCMU interview, the Minnesota governor added that although he believes Israel has a right to defend itself, the humanitarian condition in Gaza should not be tolerated. He also demanded a ceasefire and the return of all hostages still in Gaza.
In his comments on the war, Walz did not mention Hamas or the six hostages, including U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who were murdered last week.
Following the presidential primary election, Walz praised the "uncommitted" voters in his state of Minnesota—who denounced President Joe Biden’s support of Israel—as "civically engaged." Walz also called the Israel-Hamas war "intolerable." In Minnesota’s Democratic primary, more than 40,000 Minnesota voters cast protest ballots against Biden, sending 11 "uncommitted" delegates from the state to the convention.
Harris, in her Democratic National Convention speech last month, promised to support "Palestinians’ liberation" if elected president, saying she would help "Palestinians realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination."