Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz swooped into Greenwich on Sunday night to deliver a pep talk on Gov. Ned Lamont’s patio and collect an estimated $1.8 million for the Harris-Walz ticket in the waning days of a tight presidential campaign.

Walz was caustic in assessing former President Donald J. Trump’s fitness for office and his campaign as a threat to democracy in a deeply polarized time. But the Minnesota governor and former congressman acknowledged the loyalty and enthusiasm of the former president’s base.

“We know what’s at stake here. We know what we can do. We’ve got 16 days to control our destiny. This is going to be a turnout election,” Walz said. “Look, the country is divided. That’s the way it is. Their voters, Donald Trump voters, are going to vote. He’s got a floor and a ceiling that’s pretty close. 

“It’s too damn high.”

Walz appeared in Connecticut on the eve of early voting in the state. Lamont is scheduled to cast his ballot Monday for Kamala Harris and Walz.

“I know this is a preaching to the choir moment, but I’m telling people our recital is in 16 days, and the choir needs to sing and needs to sing now,” Walz said.

He acknowledged the obvious: Connecticut is a blue state carried by the Democratic nominee in every election since 1992.

“Look, you’re going to win here,” Walz told the guests. “We know that you do it. And we don’t view this as an ATM, but I do view this as a group of folks who are committed to the rest of the country.”

Connecticut often is called one of the reliable ATMs in national politics, a place where presidential candidates come more for the dollars than the votes.

Walz and Lamont have become friends through meetings of the National Governors Association. Both were elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022. 

“He’s a good man, a very good friend,” Lamont said.

The fundraiser on the governor’s patio was hastily organized around a money-raising swing through two blue states: Walz attended a late-afternoon fundraiser in Boston, then flew to Westchester County Airport, just over the state line from Greenwich.

To be an event co-chair, and there were several, one had to raise $100,000. One of them was Hartford’s former mayor, Luke Bronin. He said Walz bluntly described the stakes of losing and what must be done by Democrats to win.

“He powerfully made the point about what’s at stake and he powerfully made the point about getting out the vote,” Bronin said. “We’ve got tight races in all the places that matter.”

Walz addressed the crowd at 8:20 p.m. He spoke for 20 minutes, then immediately left by motorcade for the Westchester airport and a quick flight to LaGuardia. He has media appearances Monday in New York, including a live shot on The View on ABC and a taping on The Daily Show.

Guests at a fundraiser on Lamont’s patio. The press pool could hear but not see Tim Walz. Credit: mark pazniokas

He did not take questions at the airport or at Lamont’s home from the small news pool that trailed him.

Walz, a former teacher and coach, made a self-deprecating mention of U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District. Like him, she was a teacher. Unlike him, she was a national teacher of the year.

“I was a finalist in Minnesota, and was not selected,” Walz said, pausing as the audience laughed. “I said, ‘Yeah, it proves it’s a hell of a lot harder to be teacher of the year than it is to be governor of Minnesota.”

Walz said he takes joy in trolling Trump. He noted that Harris once worked at a McDonald’s, an experience foreign to Trump — something Walz says he talks about.

“I said, ‘Can you imagine that guy trying to make a McFlurry at McDonald’s or whatever?” Walz said. “I think I trolled him enough. He went today, and he looked as dumb as I thought he would. So I told my team, I’m going to say, ‘Can you imagine that guy skydiving?” See if I can bait him into it.”

The crowd laughed.

While Walz acknowledged the passion of Trump’s base, he sees evidence of the same in his party. He read a text from a dying woman in Mississippi, where early voting has begun:

“I cast the last vote of my lifetime to preserve democracy in the United States of America and around the world. I cast the last vote of my lifetime to protect the Constitution of the United States of America and rule of law. I cast the last vote of my lifetime for honesty, decency and integrity. I cast the last vote of my lifetime for loving my neighbor, regardless of their race, their religion or who they love.”

Walz also mentioned a Georgia voter who has already voted by absentee. “If the universe has any type of justice as that moral curve bends, we will win Georgia by one vote. It’ll be Jimmy Carter’s vote,” Walz said.

Walz warned of Trump attacking the election results this year, as he did in 2020 when President Joe Biden won. 

“You know that’s coming,” Walz said. “But we got a pretty damn good governor in Wisconsin. We got a good governor in Michigan. We got a good governor in Pennsylvania. We got a good governor in North Carolina. We got a good governor in Arizona, so he can try and cheat. It’s not going to work. We’re going to win this.”

Those are swing states with Democratic governors.

“We know what’s on the other side, that brighter future, that new way forward,” Walz said. “Finally, for one, quit talking about breaking this damn glass ceiling and tear it down and send Kamala Harris through it. Let’s wake up on that 17th day, not just to Madam President, but to a more hopeful, more unified and more joyful America.”