Former Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine on Monday immediately dismissed the possibility of Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being a formidable 2028 presidential candidate.
Walz told The New Yorker in an interview published on Sunday that he would run in 2028 if the conditions and his “skill set” were right. When journalist Mark Halperin asked Turrentine on “The Morning Meeting” whether he was “super psyched” regarding a potential Walz 2028 presidential run, the former Democratic strategist promptly said he was not, basing his opinion on the Minnesota governor’s 2024 vice-presidential run that crashed and burned.
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“I think, just my own opinion, he’d be terrible. I mean, what he showed on the campaign trail was that he was kind of weak,” Turrentine said. “He is very liberal and he’s gonna have to defend the Biden-Harris ticket that he served on … I just think there’s nothing that I have seen from him, or that I saw from him, that would augment that you would be a strong national candidate.”
The governor received criticism during the 2024 campaign for several of the far-left initiatives he has supported, including signing legislation in 2023 that requires schools to provide tampons in both girls’ and boys’ restrooms, which led to Trump and others calling him “Tampon Tim.”
“Walz doesn’t strike me as a guy who’s gonna blaze that trail to defining real change,” he added. “That doesn’t seem to be his strong suit. And his governing record in Minnesota is not something I could see the party rallying around.”
The governor also repeatedly made inaccurate claims about his past during his unsuccessful vice presidential campaign.
Walz revealed during a Wednesday podcast that he regrets spending several days of the 2024 campaign focusing on President Donald Trump’s remarks about 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.”
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When Halperin earlier asked former White House press secretary Sean Spicer if the “prospect of a Walz presidential candidate strike[s] fear in [his] heart,” Spicer responded, “Just tell me where to send the check. I’m on Team Walz.”
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.