Gov. Tim Walz, D-M.N., dropped a bombshell on former Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed 2024 presidential campaign during a Harvard Kennedy School forum Monday night.
Walz said he was selected by Harris to proved her an avenue to connect with white male voters that the party has increasingly struggled to reach.
“I could code talk to White guys watching football, fixing their truck” and “put them at ease,” Walz said. The Minnesota governor described himself as the “permission structure” for white men from rural America to vote for Democrats.
Harris lost that demographic badly, 60 to 38 in President Donald Trump’s favor.
The former vice presidential nominee ruled out a 2028 presidential bid during the forum, and said Democrats should run an anti-Trump campaign without focusing on individual candidates yet.
“I think we need to collectively run a presidential campaign without a candidate right now that builds all the infrastructure… by the time we get to 2028, we’re ready,” Walz said.
The Minnesota governor also said he was very pessimistic assessment of Democrats’ chances in the Senate for the 2026 midterms, and said their only hope is to win the House of Representatives.
“I think we will take back the House,” Walz said. “I am very pessimistic about the Senate, just to be honest with you. With the way things work, I think it’s a very difficult look.”
Walz pointed to Democratic losses among traditionally working-class voters as evidence of the party’s “woke” messaging problems. ”
The thing was, is being associated with national parties and things on these state races, we’re going to have to figure that piece out of, how do we reimagine,” he said, referencing former Sens. Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester who lost their seats in Ohio and Montana in the landslide 2024 election.
The governor instead said Democrats should focus on “14 Republicans in vulnerable districts where Democrats won at the top of the ticket” as potential pickup opportunities for the House.
Walz has faced challenges during his post-election appearances. He was recently heckled by veterans at the Minnesota Capitol over claims of “stolen valor” and has been unable to escape the nickname “Tampon Tim,” coined by conservatives for his bill providing free tampons in men’s restrooms.
The governor pointed out that Democrats consistently “lose the message, and we lose power” and questioned how the party stopped standing for “personal freedoms, middle-class folks, for labor folks,” leading to low voter turnout in 2024.
“Why have we lost the self-identity that the Democratic Party is for personal freedoms, middle-class folks, for labor folks. How did we lose it, where people didn’t self-identify with that? How did we get to a point where people didn’t feel like this was an important enough election to get out and vote?” Walz asked.