Washington — On Monday, several vehicles behind the motorcade carrying Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz crashed as he was traveling from the airport to a campaign stop in Milwaukee, but Walz was not injured.
President Joe Biden called Walz a short time later, when he was traveling with Vice President Kamala Harris on a separate campaign trip to Pittsburgh. Harris’s campaign said she also spoke to her running mate by phone after the incident, and that he was unharmed.
The Harris campaign said the incident involved a vehicle at the rear of the motorcade. Walz, who is also the governor of Minnesota, was riding closer to the front.
The cause of the crash, which occurred just before 1 p.m. local time, is not yet known and there were several minor injuries.
The White House said Harris had been briefed on the crash and spoke with Walz to check on his and his staff’s status. She is expected to receive updates throughout the day.
According to a full report from a reporter who was riding in the motorcade, one of the travel pool staff members in the van carrying the reporters was injured and was treated by medical personnel. “Our van collided with the van in front of us and was struck from behind, causing the passengers to fall violently forward,” the reporter wrote.
The van carrying the reporters was left parked on the side of the road for several minutes.
Some of the reporters had scratches and bruises, one had a nosebleed, another was feared to have suffered a concussion and initially sought emergency treatment, but eventually he was put in a new van with other reporters to head to the event.
According to the full report, everyone who sought to be screened by a paramedic was assessed.
The incident occurred after Walz and his wife, Gwen, were greeted at the airport by Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore. The three hugged, chatted and took pictures before beginning their motorcade to the event.
The Labor Day campaign stop on Monday was Walz’s first aboard the Harris-Walz campaign charter plane, which was emblazoned with an American flag decal, the words Harris-Walz, and “A New Way Forward.”
