Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) called on his fellow Democrats to “be a little meaner” on Saturday as he fuels speculation about a 2028 presidential run during a stop in South Carolina.
While some Democrats have called on their party to change its rhetoric as its “toxic” brand sinks its favorability, former Vice President Kamala Harris‘s 2024 running mate is doubling down.
While speaking at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s convention, Walz advised Democrats to take on President Donald Trump, whom he labeled a “cruel man.”
“Maybe it’s time for us to be a little meaner,” Walz said. “When it’s a bully like Donald Trump, you bully the s*** out of him.”
During the 2024 campaign, he began to label the Trump ticket as “weird,” part of a line of attacks which ultimately did not land with voters, as Harris and Walz lost all seven battleground states in the presidential race in addition to the popular vote.
As the Democratic Party’s favorability has cratered since the 2024 election, as various party politicians including Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) acknowledged that the party’s brand is “toxic.”
Fetterman particularly criticized Democrats for “shaming and scolding and talking down to people and telling them, ‘Hey, I know better than you,’ or you’re dopes, or you’re a bro, or you’re ignorant, or, ‘how can you be this dumb? … And then, by the way, they’re fascists.”
While speaking to the convention in South Carolina on Saturday, Walz said that while “it is going to be a challenging few years” for Democrats, they should push back on Trump and the GOP.
“We’ve got the guts and we need to have it to push back on the bullies and the greed,” Walz said.
Walz has emerged as a candidate for the 2028 presidential election after holding various town halls in various swing congressional districts earlier this year. The Minnesota governor’s trip to South Carolina this weekend, a key primary state for Democrats in the presidential contest, only adds to speculation he could run for president in three years.
The Minnesota governor is also expected to speak at the California Democratic Party convention later Saturday, an event that will notably be missing Harris. Harris is reportedly considering running for governor of the Golden State in 2026 or running for president again in 2028.