Tim Walz names the three mistakes Democrats made in the last election
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who ran as Kamala Harris 's vice presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket in last year's election, has identified three key areas that he believes their campaign failed to address, leading to the party's disastrous defeat to Donald Trump and JD Vance in November.
Speaking to The Washington Post after a 'People's Town Hall' event in Youngstown, Ohio, on Monday, Walz said he believed the Democratic mission to stop Trump floundered because they failed to reach Latino voters, did not do enough to acknowledge voters' anger about the war in Gaza and did not have a sufficiently agile media strategy.
'People ran what they had in the moment, what they thought was best, but I do think it's irresponsible to not look back and say, 'OK, what could we do to win?' Walz told the Post.
'It's not enough to blame something else. I don't blame the voters. I blame: What did we not do? I put my suggestions out there. If those aren't the ones that are chosen, I work as hard as I can for the ones that were.'
A popular figure when he hit the national stage last summer thanks to his attacks on Trump and Vance as 'weird', voters also responded to Walz's folksy personal manner and relatable back story as a high school teacher and football coach – but ultimately he and Harris fell short.
On their inability to match Joe Biden 's outreach to America's Latino citizens four years earlier, Walz reflected: 'I think especially with the Latino community and an immigrant community, these are driven people to succeed, and that is the American Dream.
'And I think sometimes we're a little bit, we're a little bit too much, you know, you should be ashamed for being successful.'
On public opposition to Israel's military response to the events of October 7, 2023, which led to heckling at Harris's rallies over the Biden administration's perceived inaction to prevent the bloodshed, Walz said: 'It needs to be spoken that there's the angst over Gaza and things that needed to be addressed.
'I think we have to understand: How do we articulate that we're better for that? It's obviously self-evident now that for folks in Gaza, Donald Trump's not going to be the [one] to help them. We got to make sure that they believe that we would have been.'
On their campaign's failure to engage with new media, Walz acknowledged that Trump had been astute in taking advice from his teenage son Barron Trump about appearing on Joe Rogan and Theo Von's influential podcasts, which helped him to secure the support of their young male listenerships.
Walz regretted that he and Harris had not been 'looser' in their approach and revealed that he had discussed how best to reach young men via the media and platforms they enjoy with his own son Gus Walz, who suggested there is a perception among his peers that right-wing politics is more fun.
'Trump doesn't know squat about football, but he shows up at football games,' the governor said.
'He doesn't know squat about NASCAR, but he shows up at NASCAR. We do know those things, and we should be out there.
'I'm not saying it's me – send Cory Booker out to do these things. Send Elizabeth Warren; she knows basketball… We should do more of the spaces where they're at authentically, not performance-like.'
Democrats from Walz to the progressive duo of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have increasingly taken to holding town hall events in red states since Trump's inauguration, responding to angry scenes at equivalent Republican gatherings going viral in which constituents have been seen confronting and often berating their representatives over the administration's actions, particularly in relation to Elon Musk 's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) instigating mass firings of federal workers.
'Donald Trump did a wonderful job of articulating why these people are angry,' Walz told the Post, pointing to the crowd attending his listening tour.
'He's done nothing to improve that, and they don't believe we have either. That's what I'm trying to figure out.'
He admitted that he doesn't have the answers and conceded that 'the guy who got his ass kicked in the last election' may not be the right message-bearer right now but said he believed there was value in taking part in events that are effectively serving as group therapy sessions for disaffected voters.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
STV News
18 minutes ago
- STV News
Elon Musk says he 'regrets' some of the posts he made about Donald Trump
Elon Musk has said he regrets some of the comments he made about US President Donald Trump. Posting to his social media platform X, Musk wrote: 'I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far.' While neither Musk nor Trump have spoken about a formal reconciliation following their public falling out over the last two weeks, Musk's post signals a cooling of tensions between the pair. The spectacular fallout between the president of the United States and the world's richest man played out largely on their respective social media platforms. After what had initially seemed like an amicable exit from the White House, Musk began criticising Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' leading the president to suggest cancelling Musk's lucrative government contracts. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump wrote on his social media network. 'I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!' 'This just gets better and better,' Musk quickly replied on X. 'Go ahead, make my day.' Donald Trump and Elon Musk's relationship has dramatically deteriorated over the last week. / Credit: AP Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Donald Trump lamented their frayed relationship and said he was 'very disappointed in Musk.' The mood quickly descended into personal attacks, as Trump said Musk had 'lost his mind' after the billionaire speculated about the US president's links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk later offered up an especially stinging insult to a president sensitive about his standing among voters: 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election,' Musk retorted. 'Such ingratitude,' Musk said in a follow-up post. High-profile Republicans had been urging the two to put aside their differences, fearful of the damage that could be done in a drawn-out conflict. Last week, Vice President JD Vance told podcaster Theo Von he hoped Musk would come 'back into the fold,' though he admitted that may not be possible now. 'Look, it happens to everybody,' he added. 'I've flown off the handle way worse than Elon Musk did in the last 24 hours.' Vance made the comments on Theo Von's podcast – a favourite of MAGA supporters. / Credit: AP Musk's own father, Errol Musk, also poured water on the row, telling a Russian newspaper it 'was just a small thing' and would 'be over tomorrow.' He added: 'Trump will prevail – he's the president, he was elected as the president. So, you know, Elon made a mistake, I think. But he is tired, he is stressed.' Trump is yet to comment on this change of tone from Musk, telling reporters when last asked he assumed the relationship was over and warning Musk he would 'pay the consequences' should he start funding Trump's political rivals. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
LA on lockdown as mayor enacts curfew and declares 'local emergency'
Los Angeles was put on lockdown after mayor Karen Bass finally declared a local after days of anti-ICE demonstrations. Parts of the downtown area will be a no-go zone from 8pm to 6am from Tuesday through Wednesday after violent protesters set fire to cars, looted buildings and attacked officers with rocks, fireworks, and cement bricks. Bass said the curfew is expected to last several days, adding: 'If you do not live or work in downtown LA avoid the area. Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Meanwhile, governor Gavin Newsom tore into President Trump for exacerbating the chaos. Less than an hour after the curfew was imposed, Newsom spoke out on national television, blaming the federal government for the ongoing crisis. He said: 'Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves, but they do not stop there. 'This is a president who in just over 140 days, has fired government watchdogs that could hold him accountable, accountable for corruption and fraud. He's declared a war, a war on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself. Databases, quite literally, are vanishing.' Newsom claimed that 'when Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation', adding: 'This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. 'Democracy is under assault before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived.' While Newsom did urge protesters to remain peaceful if they took to the streets, he encouraged Americans to stand up against Trump: 'What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.' Trump also gave orders to send 700 Marines and 4,100 National Guard troops in to take over policing efforts and assist the LAPD. Bass revealed at least 23 businesses have been looted during the ongoing violence and condemned some of the horrifying images which have emerged from the days of carnage. But the mayor said the curfew was contained to where the violence was most apparent, noting: 'Some of the imagery of the protests and the violence gives the appearance as though this is a city wide crisis and is not.' She hopes that by imposing a curfew and declaring a local emergency, she can 'stop the vandalism, stop the looting'. Bass added: 'A curfew has been in consideration for several days, but clearly after the violence that took place last night and just the extensive widespread nature of the vandalism, we reached a tipping point.' While she refrained from locking down the entire downtown area, the LAPD issued alerts listing downtown Los Angeles as 'unlawful assembly' zones in an effort to rid the area of any and all protesters. The regions impacted by the lockdown span from the five freeway to the 110 freeway, and from the 10 freeway to the point where the 110 and the five merge. The development comes as Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to stop the LA rioters, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. 'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see. But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible,' Trump said. He repeatedly referred to 'bad, sick people' and 'agitators' he said were paid to wreak havoc. A curfew is the natural next step in efforts toward regaining control of the city, as the LAPD ramps up arrests and cracks down on protesters breaching unlawful assembly orders. LAPD chief Jim McDonnell said protests had grown more violent as the week progressed. There were just 27 arrests on Sunday, with 40 on Sunday, 114 on Monday and nearly 200 by 6pm on Tuesday. He said public safety personnel, journalists and homeless people would be exempt from the order. The arrival of Trump's military reinforcements brought its own set of challenges on Tuesday, with furious Newsom filing an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order. The governor wrote on X: I just filed an emergency motion to block Trump's illegal deployment of Marines and National Guard in Los Angeles. Trump is turning the U.S. military against American citizens. The courts must immediately block these illegal actions.' A judge denied the motion and instead granted the Trump administration an extension of time to respond to Newsom's filing. The federal government now has until 2pm on Wednesday to file its response. Newsom will then have an opportunity to file its opposition ahead of a hearing at 1.30pm Thursday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles will cost at least $134 million and last 60 days. 'We stated very publicly that it's 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we're not going anywhere,' he said.
Powys County Times
22 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Lammy holding talks on post-Brexit deal for Gibraltar
Foreign Secretary David Lammy will have talks with the European Union and Spain in Brussels as a post-Brexit deal on Gibraltar appears close. Mr Lammy held talks with Gibraltar's leaders, members of the opposition and the business community before leaving the British overseas territory to head to Brussels on Wednesday morning. Talks on rules governing the border of Spain and Gibraltar have been ongoing since Britain left the European Union in 2020, but an agreement has not yet been reached. The PA news agency understands that a deal has not yet been reached and there are still a number of sticking points. A Foreign Office source said: 'We're working to secure an agreement that works for the people and businesses in Gibraltar. 'An agreement that will protect British sovereignty, supports Gibraltar's economy and allows businesses to plan for the future.' Ministers have insisted no deal will be done without the full support of Gibraltar's government. Mr Lammy held talks with chief minister Fabian Picardo in Gibraltar along with the UK's overseas territories minister Stephen Doughty. Today, with @DavidLammy and @SDoughtyMP we held a Cabinet meeting in No6 Convent Place to agree final parameters for negotiation. We will now travel to Brussels to meet @MarosSefcovic and @jmalbares. It's time to try to finalise arrangements for lasting, stable relationship… — Fabian Picardo (@FabianPicardo) June 11, 2025 The ministers and Mr Picardo then travelled to Brussels for talks with the EU and Spanish representatives. In a post on X on Wednesday morning, Mr Picardo said it is 'time to try to finalise arrangements for lasting, stable relationship between Gibraltar and the EU/Spain which is safe, secure and beneficial'. But officials close to the talks said there were still 'hard negotiations ahead'. Gibraltar was ceded to the UK by Spain in 1713 and the population is heavily in favour of remaining a British overseas territory. The last time it voted on a proposal to share sovereignty with Spain, in 2002, almost 99% of Gibraltarians rejected the move. Gibraltar also hosts an RAF base at its airport and an important naval facility. The Government, in line with its Conservative predecessors, has said it will not sign up to a deal that gives sovereignty over Gibraltar to another country, or that the Gibraltarian government is not content with.
