Minnesota Governor Tim Walz offered a telling mix of denial, deflection, and reluctant admission during a tense exchange on CNN’s State of the Union, as Democrats continue grappling with the fallout of their 2024 election defeat.
Pressed by host Jake Tapper on the party’s unified decision to back President Joe Biden for re-election despite growing concerns over his age and cognitive sharpness, Walz offered little more than a shrug and a pivot.
“He made that decision!” Walz exclaimed when Tapper suggested Democrats should acknowledge the obvious: that Biden was not up to the task. Tapper, unmoved, reminded the governor that the Democratic Party went along with it, to which Walz offered a half-hearted concession: “That very well could be the case... I would hope we would never do it again.”
Tapper: Don’t you think your party needs to take responsibility for running Biden when he was clearly not up for the job?
Walz: We may have made a "mistake," but let me tell you about Trump. pic.twitter.com/cShWilmbV8
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) April 6, 2025
The moment was emblematic of a party that has yet to reckon fully with a campaign defined by strategic miscalculations and internal contradictions. Biden’s eventual exit from the race—prompted by a disastrous debate performance and rising pressure from within his own party—left Democrats scrambling.
Kamala Harris stepped in as the nominee and picked Walz as her running mate, but the ticket failed to carry a single battleground state, ceding the presidency back to Donald Trump.
Walz, now back in Minnesota, has admitted the Democrats got into a “mess,” not due to GOP attacks, but because they failed to defend or explain the very policies they championed—ranging from immigration reform to DEI mandates. In recent remarks, he faulted his party for being “timid” and neglecting to pass legislation that had tangible effects on Americans’ daily lives.
When challenged to explain the failure more directly, Walz appeared to recognize the weight of his own role. “I don’t know if I’m the best spokesperson to do it after just losing an election,” he said, later adding, “I’m criticizing myself. I own this.”
Despite those words, Sunday’s performance suggests the lesson hasn’t fully landed. Rather than confront the strategic blunders head-on, Walz reverted to familiar talking points, attacking President Trump’s tariffs and shifting attention away from the Democrats’ internal disarray.