(DCNF)—President Donald Trump said during a Friday Oval Office press conference that he believes Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz unusually influenced former Vice President Kamala Harris’ November election loss.
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Trump about Walz’s Tuesday comments on “This is Gavin Newsom,” where the former vice presidential candidate said he feels he “could kick most of their ass,” with Doocy criticizing Walz’s remarks as referencing Trump supporters. The president said Walz would “be in trouble” if he had to fight Trump supporters, and that he feels Walz dragged Harris down, despite conventional wisdom being that vice presidential candidates typically do not affect the top of the ticket.
“Well, he’s a loser, you know? I mean, the guy’s a loser. He lost an election. He played a part. You know, usually a vice president doesn’t play a part, they say,” Trump said. “I think Tim played a part. I think he was so bad that he hurt her. But she hurt herself and [former President] Joe [Biden] hurt them both. They didn’t have a great group. But I would probably put him at the bottom of the group.”
Walz’s comments about believing he could take his critics in a fight took place just after he expressed frustration about attacks on his masculinity during the 2024 campaign.
“It just baffled me how much time they spent trying to attack me — that I wasn’t like masculine enough in their vision. Like, I would have never believed this,” Walz said. “I saw Fox News did, like, a couple days because I used a straw, and I’m like, ‘Hell, man, how else do you drink a milkshake type of thing?’ But they focused on it obsessively, which I think, again, is their obsession, their weirdness.”
“We buy their frame on these issues of sexuality, you know? But their whole thing was is that they spent all their time — these guys on Fox News — that Walz is gay, he’s not masculine, you know?” he continued. “And he doesn’t coach football the way he should.”
In addition to criticism of his masculinity, the governor faced backlash during the 2024 campaign for the far-left initiatives he has backed, such as signing legislation in 2023 that mandated schools provide tampons in both girls’ and boys’ restrooms, which led to Trump and others calling him “Tampon Tim.”
Walz also repeatedly made inaccurate claims regarding his past during the campaign.
Moreover, the governor revealed on “Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast” that he regretted wasting several days of the campaign prioritizing Trump’s comments regarding Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.
“I will kick myself that I got sucked in. I bet you I spent three or four days, maybe longer, not clowning, but just hammering them over the eating dogs and cats because it was so ridiculous,” Walz said. “And I took that hook, line and sinker. We were talking about immigration at a critical part of the campaign. And it was hurtful. And it pissed me off. And I was standing there to defend people. And it didn’t do a damn bit of good electorally.”
The governor told The New Yorker in a March 2 interview that he would weigh launching his own 2028 presidential bid if the circumstances and his “skill set” were right. He also launched a town hall tour in red districts across the nation in March, stating that he plans to “lend a megaphone” to Americans.
