The American people didn’t just laugh at the idea of Tim Walz running for president in 2028—they practically fell out of their chairs. The failed vice-presidential candidate, fresh off a disastrous election cycle that saw him and Kamala Harris trounced by Donald Trump and JD Vance, is now floating the idea that he might still have something to offer in four years. Judging by the reactions, nobody is buying it.
In an interview with The New Yorker, Walz, the 60-year-old governor of Minnesota, didn’t exactly sound confident. “Look, I never had an ambition to be President or Vice President. I was honored to be asked,” he said, adding that if the circumstances were right in 2028 and he had the right “skill set,” he’d “do it.” Not exactly a rallying cry that inspires confidence.
But Walz quickly contradicted himself, suggesting that people who do have ambition for higher office are suspect. “I worry about people who have ambition for elected office. I don’t think you should have ambition. I think you should have a desire to do it if you’re asked to serve.”
Translation: Please, someone, ask me to run for president.
Unfortunately for Walz, the public reaction was swift and brutal. X users mocked the idea relentlessly, with one simply responding “no.” Another posted a GIF of men laughing. Even a self-described Democrat, Chris Falcinelli, put it bluntly: “As a Democrat, I can’t begin to express how unexciting a prospect this is.”
Even before he lost with Harris, Walz had baggage that made him a hard sell. Allegations surfaced during the campaign that he had ties to the daughter of a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official—raising questions about his potential compromises with an authoritarian regime.
Then there’s his stance on transgender athletes in women’s sports, a position that former NFL player Jack Brewer tore into on Fox News. “It’s absolutely disgusting,” Brewer said. “This guy doesn’t appeal to real men and boys who have battled it out on the gridiron.” He went even further, calling Walz “a disgrace to the football world.”
And if that wasn’t enough, Walz recently picked a fight with Elon Musk. The Minnesota governor went on MSNBC and outright claimed that Musk made a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration—an accusation so absurd that even MSNBC viewers had to wonder if Walz had lost the plot. Musk quickly fired back, calling Walz a “creepy clown” and threatening to sue. One X user summed up the situation nicely: “I hope Elon sues him for all he’s worth.” Musk’s response? “I think I will.”
Even Walz himself admitted he feels like he “let people down” with the way he and Harris lost in November. But that hasn’t stopped him from testing the waters.
