Gov. Tim Walz may have had softballs lobbed his way during a visit to “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” but he is likely to get a few harder pitches coming his way when he appears on the “The Daily Show” on Monday.

The Comedy Central series, which airs at 10 p.m. locally Monday through Thursday, has been kicking off most weeks with former host Jon Stewart. He brings a decidedly liberal viewpoint, but isn’t afraid to ask challenging questions.

The chat is part of a Democratic ticket media blitz. Walz’s running mate, Kamala Harris, has made recent appearances on Fox News, “The View” and the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.

“The Daily Show” premiered in 1996 with Minnesota roots. It was co-created by Minneapolis native Lizz Winstead and hosted by Craig Kilborn, who grew up in Hastings. The show became more political shortly after Stewart took over in 1999. Past guests include Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Nikki Haley.

MANKATO – Lawyers spent almost 90 minutes inside a courtroom here making their cases over whether Adam Fravel is guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend, Madeline Kingsbury, at the end of March in 2023.

Fravel, wearing a gray blazer over dress clothes, appeared largely nonresponsive as his trial started Thursday morning, beginning an anticipated several weeks of testimony from friends, family, neighbors, law enforcement and medical experts.

He is charged with four counts of murder in various degrees, including premeditated first-degree murder and murder while committing domestic abuse with a past pattern of domestic issues. The trial was moved out of Winona County earlier this year because of media coverage and community awareness surrounding the case.

In their opening statements, the state’s special prosecutor Phillip Prokopowicz and Fravel’s lawyer Zachary Bauer laid out a rough timeline of Fravel’s relationship with Kingsbury, as well as her disappearance, the search for her and where her body was found.

The shared facts ended there.

Prokopowicz went through Kingsbury’s history with Fravel, beginning with their days as students at Winona State University. He told jurors how they spent seven years together with their two children, ages 5 and 2. He detailed how Kingsbury was last seen alive on Friday, March 31, 2023, with Fravel as they dropped their children off at daycare.

And he alluded to the evidence found on Kingsbury’s body — a bath towel wrapped around her jaw and neck that matched a towel seen in photos inside her bathroom. The fitted bed sheet wrapped around Kingsbury’s body matches other bedding her family took from Kingsbury’s home shortly after she disappeared. And the black tape holding the sheet to the body matched the color and size of tape found in the garage.

Prokopowicz described the days leading up to Kingsbury’s disappearance and death as fraught with tension over Kingsbury leaving Fravel. He alluded to a history of domestic abuse in Kingsbury and Fravel’s relationship. The prosecutor also pointed to video evidence and testimony showing Fravel’s whereabouts were unknown for 45 minutes that Friday morning.

“In here, it can be a very dark and lonely place, and it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Benson said. “Events like this just help keep that hope alive.”

While the incarcerated people listened, they were joined at tables by prison staff, guards, the warden, and others, including Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who stood against a brick wall. A couple of inmates, who work as photographers for the prison’s newspaper, strolled the cafeteria taking pictures.

When the performance went longer than expected, the warden smiled and gave the performers a thumbs up. He was fine with letting it continue. When it was done, the musicians took a handful of questions and signed flyers. Then inmates were guided back to their cells.