Former Democratic vice-presidential nominee and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz took to the stage at Harvard’s Kennedy School Monday night, hoping to spin his party’s stunning 2024 defeat as a simple messaging problem — not the result of their increasingly out-of-touch agenda. In a speech filled with awkward humor, cultural pandering, and shallow self-awareness, Walz attempted to rebrand himself as the Democrats’ blue-collar whisperer while ruling out a 2028 White House run.
But if Walz’s Monday performance is any indication, Democrats still haven’t learned a thing.
Speaking to a friendly Ivy League crowd, Walz repeated the same identity politics-driven language that’s become a staple of the modern Left. When asked why Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate, Walz proudly claimed that it was because he could “code talk to white guys watching football, fixing their truck” — as if working-class Americans are little more than a demographic checkbox to be decoded by urban elites.
“I was the permission structure for white men to vote Democrat,” Walz said, reducing millions of hard-working Americans to political pawns who need hand-holding before entering a voting booth.
Rather than admit that Democrats lost in 2024 because voters were fed up with the inflation, crime, and chaos that defined four years of Biden-Harris leadership, Walz argued that the party just needs to “do more” in terms of appearances on podcasts and news shows.
“There is room for Gavin Newsom’s podcast, and there is room for Bernie Sanders’ rallies,” he said, suggesting that a slicker media strategy — not better policies — would have secured victory. No mention, of course, of rising antisemitism in Democratic ranks, soft-on-crime policies, or their obsession with forcing radical gender ideology into every aspect of American life.
And speaking of radicalism, Walz still can’t shake the “Tampon Tim” label — a nickname conservatives gave him after he proudly championed legislation mandating that menstrual products be stocked in boys’ restrooms in Minnesota schools. In his mind, that’s “progress.” To most parents, it’s deranged.
Despite his attempts to project a folksy charm, Walz’s record continues to haunt him. Earlier this month, veterans at the Minnesota Capitol heckled him over accusations of “stolen valor.” On the road, he was slammed for gloating about Tesla’s stock drop after a string of vandalism incidents, and he’s drawn fire for bragging that he could physically “take” most Trump supporters.
Walz also made headlines last month after a Wisconsin woman said she was kicked out of one of his town halls for filming Trump supporters being removed from the event — a move that directly contradicts his party’s hollow rhetoric about “democracy” and “inclusion.”
Still, the Minnesota governor insists the problem isn’t what Democrats are saying — it’s just that they’re not saying it on enough platforms.
“I think we need to collectively run a presidential campaign without a candidate right now,” he said, offering the stunning suggestion that Democrats begin organizing for 2028 without a nominee in sight — just a nebulous blob of talking points and infrastructure, apparently.
Throughout the Harvard forum, Walz admitted Democrats had “lost the message” and lamented that Americans no longer “self-identify” with the party of “personal freedoms” and the “middle class.” He conveniently ignored how the Left has become the party of lockdowns, censorship, drag queen story hours, and $7 gas.
Walz closed with a not-so-subtle jab at President Trump, whose first 100 days in his second term he referred to as “100 days of destruction.” Of course, he failed to mention that those 100 days have also brought back strength to America’s borders, a renewed sense of international respect, and a booming stock market rebound.
“If you leave a void, Donald Trump will fill it,” Walz warned his party. Ironically, that may be the most truthful thing he said all night. Because it was the Democrats’ failure — their failure to protect families, defend law and order, and preserve the American dream — that created the very vacuum Trump is now filling.
As for Walz’s self-deprecating moment — calling himself a “knucklehead” — he might be onto something. But if Democrats think putting “Tampon Tim” out front is the answer to their problems, Republicans should be more than happy to let them keep trying.
