On Nov. 5, then-Former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance defeated Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election. Approximately a month after the defeat, Walz spoke to Tom Hauser from KSTP-TV, an ABC affiliate in St. Paul, Minnesota, and expressed shock over the election defeat.
“It felt like at the rallies, at the things I was going to, the shops I was going in, that the momentum was going our way, and it obviously wasn’t,” Walz told Hauser. “So, yeah, I was a little surprised. I really, I thought we had a positive message and I thought the country was ready for that.”
Tim Walz just did his first interview with Minnesota media since the presidential campaign ended. Notable quotes:
“Are there things you could’ve done differently? Since we lost, the answer is obviously yes. On this one, I did the best I could.”
“I was a little surprised [we… pic.twitter.com/CPnAbhwqsE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 6, 2024
Walz mentioned the adrenaline and enthusiasm of the campaign, including when Harris asked him to be his running mate, a decision that many considered unexpected and surprising.
He discussed his nerves and excitement during his first public event with the vice president at a campaign rally in August at Temple University in Philadelphia, shortly after being selected as Harris’s running mate.
“I’m standing at the curtain with the vice president of the United States with 15 to 20 thousand people and the national press out there, and she turns to me and says, ‘Well, let’s not screw this up.’ And we went out there,” Walz recalled.
Later, after Harris gave her speech, she introduced Walz to an arena packed with supporters, enthusiastically introducing him to the political title he hoped he would have earned on November 5.
“The next vice president of the United States, Gov. Tim Walz!” Harris exclaimed.
In the video clip promoting the interview, set to air on Sunday, December 8, Hauser asked Walz if Harris’s choosing him as her running mate was a positive or negative for the campaign. Walz answered that history would ultimately decide that. Interestingly, he added that the decision to choose him as running mate “wasn’t his” and that he did the best he could.
“History will write that,” Walz told Hauser. “It wasn’t my decision to make. It was the vice president’s decision. As I said in this campaign, when you asked the question, were there things you could have done differently? Since we lost, the answer is obviously yes. On this one, I did the best I could.”
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Nevertheless, Walz described the experience as a “privilege.”
“It was a privilege to do that,” Walz said. “It was a privilege to be asked to serve with Vice President Harris. Certainly got to see America!”