Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the former vice presidential candidate, told Democratic Party voters in South Carolina on May 31 that their party had lost its way and needed to revive its identity, as Democrats prepare to challenge for control of Congress and governorships in 2026.
Walz, who was former Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024, gave the keynote address at the South Carolina Democratic Party Convention and opened with a general critique of President Donald Trump’s second administration, mentioning topics including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Department of Government Efficiency, tax policies, and the president’s decision to accept Qatar’s gift of a Boeing 747.
He accused Trump’s administration of “cruelty and corruption,” specifically calling Qatar’s gift an example of corruption and the deconstruction of the federal budget as an example of cruelty. Walz criticized congressional Republicans for being “fully complicit,“ adding that his own party is a part of the “mess.”
“We gotta be honest with ourselves,” he said. “We’re in this mess. We know who Trump is. He told us, and he does it every day. But we’re in this mess, too, because we lost our way. We lost our way a bit as a party.”
Walz said the Democratic Party was the party of the working class, and it bothered him “to no end” that not only did they lose a chunk of the nation’s working class voters in the last election, they lost it to a billionaire. And he admitted that the billionaire made the working class feel heard.
“You could hear the primal scream of folks,” he said. “Working-class folks were in pain. They were yelling from the top of their lungs, ‘Do something. Do something. The system’s not fair. You can’t own a home. I can’t get health care. I’m worried about my kids. I’m worried about gun violence.’”
Walz told the crowd that it was the Democratic Party that created Social Security, Medicare, the GI Bill, and Pell grants. He said the Democratic Party stood for civil rights and abortion and labor unions.
“That’s the DNA of the Democratic Party, working for working people,” he said. ”Our party used to have the courage to do big and bold things.
“We also used to have the competency to get the basic stuff done, like helping you find meaningful work, living in safe, secure neighborhoods, and sending your kids to good schools, until somehow we strayed away from that North Star.
“But right here, right now, while Trump and the Republicans are showing the working class what they truly look like, we’ve got an opportunity to be their champions again.”
During the Biden administration, the Democratic Party focused significant attention on renewable energy transition, illegal immigration, LGBT communities, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Regarding DEI, Walz said, “We focus on it because it’s foundational to everything we do. ... Closing that gap is not only morally the right thing to do, our future depends on us closing that gap.”
As for immigration, he highlighted deportations, and said the Democrats have “an unshakable responsibility” to ensure that “no one, regardless of their status, goes without due process and the rights to rule of law.”
Walz acknowledged that some in the audience might think that he was the one who lost the race and that he was the last person they wanted to hear talking about the party losing its way. He said none of them could shy away from asking the hard questions that need to be answered before the next election.
