Republicans criticise ‘radical’ Tim Walz for giving ‘illegal aliens’ driving licences

JD Vance plays attack dog role as he follows Kamala Harris and her running mate in their campaign travels around swing states

Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz has been branded a Left-wing “radical” by Republicans for offering driving licences and medical coverage to undocumented immigrants.
The attack comes as Republicans try to counter the vice-president’s recent polling surge.
The 60-year-old governor of Minnesota signed legislation in the Democrat-controlled state last year that allows residents to obtain driving licences regardless of their immigration status.
Mr Walz argued the legislation, which is similar to that of other blue states, would make roads safer by ensuring all drivers are licenced and insured.
Undocumented immigrants will also be eligible to access public-funded health coverage available to low-income residents from 2025, under a state budget signed by Mr Walz.
The Trump campaign seized on the policies to claim Mr Walz and Ms Harris represent the most “radical Left” Democratic ticket in history.
JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, said: “This is a guy who wants to give drivers’ licences to illegal aliens.
“This is a radical human being who comes from the far-Left wing of the Democratic Party.”
The Republican Party shared attack videos online showing Ms Harris expressing support for so-called “sanctuary states”, which offer protections to illegal immigrants, as well as highlighting her role of stemming the flow of immigrants to the southern border in the Biden administration.
Mr Walz’s record on border security policies is less clear. In Congress, he voted for stricter screening of refugees but he has also supported a pathway to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children.
The Trump campaign intends to make immigration a central focus of the 2024 campaign, an issue voters in battleground states routinely cite as a key concern.
While Trump, 78, has maintained a relatively light campaign schedule, Ms Harris is undertaking a five-day, multi-state tour with Mr Walz to capitalise on her recent momentum.
Mr Vance, 40, has been dispatched by the Trump campaign to follow Ms Harris around the swing states this week to launch a disciplined, policy-centred attack on her focused on border security, immigration, crime and inflation.
The Ohio senator has also attacked Mr Walz over his military record and mocked Ms Harris for dodging questions from reporters and declining to sit for a major interview since becoming the Democratic nominee.
Mr Vance’s attack dog role is a contrast to Trump’s unusually light schedule. 
The former president has held just five rallies since the Republican National Convention concluded in mid-July – one fewer than Ms Harris, almost 20 years his junior, is staging this week alone.
It represents a marked shift to Trump’s insurgent 2016 bid, when he was staging multiple large-scale events a day at the same point in the campaign.
Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s former White House communications director, told MSNBC: “He doesn’t want to go out there because his crowd size is maybe smaller than hers… and he hasn’t got the messaging right.”
Mr Scaramucci added that Trump was “mad” at his campaign staff, whom he blames for Ms Harris’ recent surge, claiming there was a “civil war going on inside the [Trump] campaign”.
Mere weeks ago, Trump appeared on track to defeat Joe Biden and win back the White House, but since the president withdrew from the race on July 21 to clear the way for Ms Harris, the vice-president has made big gains among not just apathetic Democratic voters but swing voters in the critical states.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll gave her a five-point national lead over Trump, with 42 per cent support to his 37 per cent.
Her rise appears to have wrongfooted Trump, who dismissed her polling numbers in his hastily-convened press conference in which he questioned the size of her crowds and claimed she was “not smart enough” to hold her own news conference.