Former Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz continued a self-described “listening tour” across the country at a Harvard Kennedy School forum on Monday night, ruling out a 2028 presidential bid and revealing why former Vice President Kamala Harris chose him as her running mate.
Walz said Harris chose him, in part, because “I could code talk to white guys watching football, fixing their truck” and “put them at ease.” The Minnesota governor described himself as the “permission structure” for white men from rural America to vote for Democrats.
“I think I’ll give you pretty good stuff, but I’ll also give you 10% problematic,” Walz added when pushed by moderator Brittany Shepherd, an ABC News national political reporter, about why he didn’t take that message to cable news to reach a larger audience. Walz laughed off criticism over inconsistencies in his background on the 2024 campaign trail, describing himself as a “knucklehead.”
Walz was heckled by veterans at the Minnesota Capitol earlier this month for claims of “stolen valor.” At a town hall in Wisconsin last month, a woman who registered for the event told Fox News Digital she was removed for filming Trump supporters getting kicked out. And during one of his first town hall events, Walz was slammed by Republicans for celebrating Tesla’s stock drop amid a spree of vandalism.
While the Democrat said he was chosen by the Harris campaign to relate to white men, Walz has been unable to escape the nickname “Tampon Tim,” coined by conservatives for his bill providing free menstrual products to “all menstruating students” in school restrooms grades 4 to 12, including the boys’ room.