{"id":39966,"date":"2025-03-04T02:54:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T10:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=39966"},"modified":"2025-03-04T02:54:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T10:54:42","slug":"tim-walz-might-run-for-president-in-2028-if-you-ask-him-nicely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/03\/04\/tim-walz-might-run-for-president-in-2028-if-you-ask-him-nicely\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Walz Might Run for President in 2028 if You Ask Him Nicely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The New Yorker Interview<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kamala Harris\u2019s running mate describes losing in 2024, opposing Donald Trump now, and his future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By David Remnick<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

March 2, 2025 (NewYorker.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photograph by Melina Mara \/ The Washington Post \/ Getty<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There was a moment not long ago when we all got to know Tim Walz\u2014a big, bluff, good-humored guy, born in Nebraska, who became a teacher, a football coach, and the governor of Minnesota. For three months last year, he campaigned<\/a> on the national ticket with Kamala Harris. As late as Election Day, Walz was convinced that he and Harris were headed to the White House. He was going to be the Vice-President of the United States, living at the Naval Observatory, one heartbeat away from the Presidency. Donald Trump\u2019s pre\u00eblection rally<\/a> at Madison Square Garden, with all its extremist rhetoric, augured victory to Walz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt just felt like people would choose a calmness and a hopefulness over that,\u201d Walz told me the other day, from his office in St. Paul. \u201cObviously, Donald Trump knew more about America on November 5, 2024, than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The pain of losing will not soon abate. \u201cThat\u2019s one I\u2019ll take with me to the grave,\u201d he said in a long conversation with me for The New Yorker Radio Hour<\/a>. As Walz follows the chaotic course of the second Trump Administration, he feels that he \u201clet people down,\u201d he said. \u201cAn old white guy who ran for Vice-President, you\u2019ll land on your feet pretty well. But I still struggle with it. It was my job to get this one. And now when I see Medicaid cuts happening, when I see L.G.B.T.Q. folks being demonized, when I see some of this happening, that\u2019s what weighs on me personally.\u201d The sense of regret runs deep: \u201cI knew what my job was. It wasn\u2019t to become Vice-President. It was to protect the most vulnerable. It was to make sure that we balance the budget. It\u2019s to make sure that we keep peace in the world, make sure we tackle climate change, make sure that women make their own reproductive rights. All of those things are at stress right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the election, Walz told me, he and Harris have spoken only \u201ca couple times.\u201d He explained, \u201cI\u2019m doing my job, and she\u2019s doing her job, and she\u2019s out in California, I believe, living, and I\u2019m here in beautiful Minnesota, where the weather\u2019s always great.\u201d When I asked why they don\u2019t call or text, Walz said, laughing, \u201cWell, maybe she doesn\u2019t want to talk to me after we got this thing done. No, I think it\u2019s just there\u2019ll be a time and a place. But we left good, and my family misses her. My daughter, especially.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described his relationship with Harris as \u201cprofessional.\u201d \u201cIt was clear that she was the top of the ticket, and my job was there to support her,\u201d Walz said. \u201cShe inspired me. I think there were a lot of things that America never knew about her. When I found out she was a band kid, I\u2019m, like, Why aren\u2019t we running ads on that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the campaign, especially during his debate with J. D. Vance<\/a>, Walz was criticized for being excessively conciliatory in a contentious race, too eager to bridge unbridgeable gaps. He told me that it was \u201cna\u00efve\u201d now to search for compromise with Trump: \u201cHe\u2019s not interested in finding common ground with us. He sees us as an impediment and an obstacle, and I think he\u2019ll continue to move to remove those obstacles the best he can.\u201d Walz did not hesitate to say that he thought the President was corrupt and that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth<\/a>, a fellow-Minnesotan, \u201creally worries me\u201d for, among other things, his \u201crevolting\u201d views on women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment is hardly one for downplaying the crisis in Washington. \u201cI would argue that the road towards authoritarianism has been paved with people saying, \u2018You\u2019re overreacting,\u2019 \u201d Walz told me. \u201cI don\u2019t think you can underestimate how far [Trump] will go. And I think you should assume a worst-case scenario. If I\u2019m wrong, that\u2019s O.K., democracy holds. If I\u2019m right, then we need to be prepared that he\u2019ll continue to make these moves. As governor, my job is to make sure the firewall is there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I asked Walz if former President Joe Biden should have recognized the realities of his age and prospects and dropped out of the race much earlier than he did, Walz did not dismiss the idea\u2014but he didn\u2019t endorse it, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a decision he needed to make,\u201d Walz said. He recalled meeting with Biden in January, 2024, in Duluth, for a joint appearance about infrastructure. Biden, he said, \u201cwas great. He was spot-on. He was on the issues. He was doing what he needed to do.\u201d Walz went on, \u201cI hear some people say that if he\u2019d have left the summer before, we\u2019d have had a convention. We might have had different candidates and all that. I don\u2019t know if we still would\u2019ve won. . . . Was there somebody else out there? I think we keep looking for this charismatic leader that was going to rise and lead us out of this. I don\u2019t think it works that way. I think, as a party, we just need to do a better job of connecting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, Walz decided not to run for an open Senate seat in Minnesota. In fact, after twelve years as a member of Congress (2007-19), he\u2019d rather \u201ceat glass\u201d than return to the Capitol, he said. The jobs are too frustrating. There\u2019s nothing getting done, no sense of compromise. He\u2019d rather fight Trump from his position as governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what role might he play in the next election cycle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, I never had an ambition to be President or Vice-President. I was honored to be asked,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I feel like I can serve, I will. And if nationally, people are, like, \u2018Dude, we tried<\/em> you, and look how that worked out,\u2019 I\u2019m good with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After circling the question for a bit, I said, \u201cI guess what I\u2019m asking you is: Would you run for President?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I had a friend tell me, \u2018Never turn down a job you haven\u2019t been offered,\u2019 \u201d Walz said. \u201cIf I think I could offer something . . . I would certainly consider that. I\u2019m also, though, not arrogant enough to believe there\u2019s a lot of people that can do this.\u201d If the circumstances are right, in 2028, and he has the right \u201cskill set\u201d for the moment, Walz said, \u201cI\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou might do it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do whatever it takes. I certainly wouldn\u2019t be arrogant enough to think that it needs to be me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always said this: I didn\u2019t prepare my life to be in these jobs, but my life prepared me well. And, if this experience I\u2019ve had and what we\u2019re going through right now prepares me for that, then I would. But I worry about people who have ambition for elected office. I don\u2019t think you should have ambition. I think you should have a desire to do it if you\u2019re asked to serve. And that\u2019s kind of where I\u2019m at.\u201d \u2666<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An earlier version of this article misstated the location of Tim Walz\u2019s office.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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