Walz Distances Himself from Kamala Harris, Urges Democrats to Wake Up

“I own this,” Walz says. “But we better figure out who we’re talking to—because they’re not listening.”

In the wake of Donald Trump’s stunning return to the White House, Democratic soul-searching is underway—and it’s getting messy. On Sunday morning, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz publicly broke ranks with former running mate Kamala Harris over her lighthearted jab following the party’s catastrophic 2024 loss.

At a recent speech during the Leading Women Defined Summit, Harris quipped, “I’m not gonna say ‘I told you so.’ I swore I wasn’t going to say that!”—a remark aimed at those who dismissed her early warnings about Trump’s potential comeback. But Walz, speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union, made clear he’s not in a joking mood.

“When I criticize, I’m criticizing myself,” Walz said. “I own this. I was part of that ticket. Somebody has to come up with a strategy—and we didn’t.”

A Party in Crisis

The 2024 loss wasn’t just a political defeat—it was a seismic blow to a party that had controlled the executive branch for four years. Trump’s return to power came despite widespread warnings about his anti-democratic rhetoric, legal entanglements, and extreme policy agenda. For many Democrats, the question now isn’t just how they lost, but why voters didn’t trust them to stop it.

Walz didn’t sugarcoat the problem. “Why, with all of that out there, did they not think we were any better than that?” he asked. “That’s the part that keeps me up at night.”

He pointed to the millions of Americans—especially working-class voters—who stayed home or flipped red, even after living through Trump’s first term. “These are folks Donald Trump has tapped into. Their angst. Their anger. We didn’t speak to that. And we have to.”

Silent Warnings, Ignored Decline?

Tapper pressed Walz on the elephant in the room: the growing chorus of voices—both public and private—who say President Joe Biden wasn’t up to the task of running for re-election.

Tapper referenced his upcoming book with Axios reporter Alex Thompson, Original Sin, which claims senior Democratic officials knowingly covered up Biden’s cognitive decline in the months leading to the election. The implication: Democrats saw the iceberg—and steered straight into it anyway.

“Don’t you think your party needs to acknowledge that President Biden was not up for the job?” Tapper asked.

Walz didn’t deny it. “That very well could be the case, Jake,” he said. “What I’m concerned about is learning from those lessons. I hope to God we never make that mistake again.”

The Harris Problem

Walz didn’t directly criticize Harris’s tone—but his message was clear: now isn’t the time for smugness.

“That kind of comment may feel good in the moment,” a former senior DNC strategist told us anonymously, “but it plays directly into the narrative that Democrats are out-of-touch and self-righteous. That’s the exact brand Trump wants to run against—and clearly, it worked.”

As calls grow louder for a new generation of leadership, Harris remains a lightning rod—viewed by some as a savvy trailblazer, by others as politically toxic after two failed national campaigns.

Rebuilding—or Repeating?

For Walz, the future depends on reconnecting with the people Democrats lost—not just politically, but emotionally.

“If there is not a royal opposition,” he warned, “if there’s not some soul-searching on our side, if there’s no reaching out to those folks who are in the streets right now—then we are going to lose again. Period.”

The battle for 2028 has already begun. The question is whether Democrats are still fighting the last war—or finally ready to confront the one in front of them.