CNN White House correspondent MJ Lee gushed over Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as an “incredible contrast” to Vice President Kamala Harris after Walz was chosen as the vice president’s running mate, adding that he could reach out to “the middle of the country.”

Harris chose Walz to be vice president over Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania Tuesday morning, according to CNN and The Associated Press. Lee described Walz as being able to balance the “dynamism” that Harris brings from “big cities” on America’s “coasts” with his “small town” roots.

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‘What An Incredible Contrast’: CNN White House Reporter Gushes Over Kamala Harris Picking Tim Walz pic.twitter.com/C6gsJoASzG

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 6, 2024

“What an incredible contrast we have now on the democratic ticket with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on it at the same time,” Lee gushed while on “CNN News Central.” “We have somebody in Kamala Harris who embodies the dynamism, the innovation of big cities particularly in the coasts of this country, and then in Tim Walz, we have somebody who sort of embodies the proud, the resilient, the hard-working, patriotic middle of the country. And I do think that we can easily imagine Tim Walz very much embracing and leaning into that contrast.”

“He is somebody who can get up on the campaign stage and say to the American people, ‘Look, I might not have gone to law school, I was busy serving in the military, I was busy being a high school teacher. I may not be from a big city on the coast, I was born in a small town in Nebraska, and yet I share all of these fundamental values that Kamala Harris holds dear and here I am with all of you, holding all of the same values and views as our vice president, Kamala Harris,’” Lee continued. “So, you could imagine that being sort of a really complimentary ticket that is, again, aimed at speaking to the really wide breadth of voters that the Democrats are hoping to get going into November as they’re hoping to defeat the Donald Trump-J.D. Vance ticket.”

Walz is credited with starting the trend of calling former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio “weird” on a July 23 appearance on “Morning Joe,” according to multiple reports.

Harris leads Trump by 0.2% in a national head-to-head matchup, according to the Real Clear Polling average of polls from July 22 to Aug. 4, with Harris increasing her lead to 0.4% when Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein and independent presidential candidates Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are included in surveys.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Rumble/CNN)