A Walz to Remember

Summary

Today, Explained: "A Walz to Remember" – Detailed Summary

Released on March 10, 2025, "A Walz to Remember" is an episode of Vox's daily news explainer podcast, Today, Explained. Hosted by Sean Rameswaram and Noel King, this episode features an in-depth conversation with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz during South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. The discussion delves into the 2024 election results, Democratic Party strategies, policy reflections, and personal insights from Governor Walz.

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1. Introduction to the Interview at SXSW

The episode kicks off with host Heidi Mwogdi recounting their trip to Austin for SXSW, where they engaged in conversation with Governor Tim Walz.

Heidi Mwogdi [00:00]: "We spoke with Governor Tim Walz... on South by Southwest."

2. Reflecting on the 2024 Election Loss

Governor Walz candidly discusses the Democratic Party's unexpected performance in the 2024 elections, highlighting their failure to secure key swing states.

Governor Tim Walz [14:16]: "We didn't swing a single swing state in our direction. I do some soul-searching... our message about focusing on the middle class, expanded health care... did not resonate as we hoped."

He attributes the loss to the national narrative overshadowing localized campaign efforts, despite extensive efforts in swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

3. Messaging and Party Strategy

The conversation shifts to the effectiveness of Democratic messaging. Walz acknowledges shortcomings and emphasizes the need for grassroots involvement over relying solely on charismatic leadership.

Governor Tim Walz [04:05]: "There's a primal scream of, do something. Now I have the advantage as a governor. We can put up firewalls against them... It's going to be a whole bunch of people who don't want to see kids go hungry... who are going to stand up and make a difference."

When prompted about James Carville's strategy suggestion for Democrats to "let Republicans have their way," Walz staunchly disagrees.

Governor Tim Walz [06:56]: "I don't agree with it... we're going to protect the most vulnerable, protect our gains."

4. Navigating Congressional Challenges and Government Shutdowns

Governor Walz shares his insights on managing congressional gridlock, particularly concerning the federal debt ceiling and potential government shutdowns.

Governor Tim Walz [09:14]: "When your party has power, it's your responsibility to raise the debt ceiling... If the government shuts down, it will have an impact on states. But if you let them pass a horrific budget to avoid a shutdown, we're only prolonging the pain."

He emphasizes the importance of Republicans owning their budget proposals rather than Democrats conceding to unfavorable terms.

5. Addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Concerns

Walz reflects on the Democratic Party's handling of DEI initiatives, acknowledging that current strategies may not effectively communicate their benefits to the broader electorate.

Governor Tim Walz [20:26]: "We have not done a good job of explaining it... We're not going to dance to that tune. But we have a set of shared values."

He criticizes the party for not adapting their communication methods to better resonate with diverse learning styles and perspectives, which he believes is electorally harming them.

6. Looking Ahead to 2028 and Democratic Party Renewal

Discussing the future, Walz advocates for rejuvenating the Democratic Party by introducing fresh faces and moving beyond entrenched political dynasties.

Governor Tim Walz [18:06]: "I think it's time the Democratic Party refresh a little bit, put some fresh faces on there... We need to have a winning candidate for '28. Not because they're Democrats, but because they care about people and they adhere to our values."

He underscores the necessity of broadening the pool of candidates to include individuals who can effectively engage and inspire the electorate.

7. Social Media Dynamics and Political Memes

In a lighter segment, the hosts present Governor Walz with various memes targeting his opponent, J.D. Vance. Walz humorously navigates the situation, acknowledging the challenges of modern political discourse on social media.

Governor Tim Walz [26:16]: "This is painful for me because my son's gonna say, yeah, all those... And he kicked your ass, so."

This exchange highlights the pervasive influence of social media in shaping political narratives and public perception.

8. Personal Reflections and Future Aspirations

Governor Walz shares personal anecdotes, including his running habits and candid thoughts on potential future political ambitions.

Governor Tim Walz [24:02]: "I run 22 miles a week. I can still run 8, 30 miles. Pretty casual."

When asked about running for office in 2028, Walz expresses openness but emphasizes the importance of selecting a candidate aligned with Democratic values.

Governor Tim Walz [24:33]: "I have the potential, if I would be given the privilege to run for a third term as governor of Minnesota... We just need to make sure that we have a winning candidate for '28."

9. Concluding Thoughts and Optimism for Democracy

Wrapping up the interview, Walz conveys a message of resilience and hope, stressing the importance of active participation in renewing democracy.

Governor Tim Walz [22:57]: "Every generation has to renew the democracy... I am optimistic. I do believe that arc of the moral universe bends, but I don't think it bends by itself. I think you got to reach up and pull it some to get there."

10. Final Remarks and Social Media Lightheartedness

The episode concludes with a playful exchange about political memes, reinforcing the human side of political figures amidst serious discussions.

Governor Tim Walz [26:51]: "Thank you all."

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Notable Highlights:

• Election Loss Analysis: Governor Walz introspects on the failure to capture swing states, attributing it to ineffective messaging amidst national distractions. [14:16]

• Messaging Effectiveness: Emphasis on grassroots efforts and collective action over relying solely on party leaders. [04:05]

• Government Shutdown Stance: Advocates for Republicans to take responsibility for budget proposals to avoid prolonging government shutdowns. [09:14]

• DEI Communication Flaws: Acknowledges that the party's DEI messaging hasn't effectively reached or resonated with the broader electorate. [20:26]

• Future of the Democratic Party: Calls for introducing fresh candidates to revitalize the party's appeal and effectiveness. [18:06]

• Optimism in Democracy: Despite challenges, Governor Walz maintains a hopeful outlook on the ability to renew and strengthen democratic values. [22:57]

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Conclusion

In "A Walz to Remember," Governor Tim Walz provides a candid and comprehensive reflection on the Democratic Party's recent electoral challenges, strategic missteps, and vision for the future. His insights underscore the complexities of modern politics, the necessity for effective communication, and the enduring hope for democratic renewal. For listeners seeking an in-depth analysis of current political dynamics and strategic perspectives from a prominent Democratic leader, this episode offers valuable takeaways.

Transcript

[Heidi Mwogdi]

Here's a fun one we took today, explained on the road this past weekend to Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest, where we spoke with Governor Tim Walz. Remember Tim Walz?

[Governor Tim Walz]

These are weird people.

[Heidi Mwogdi]

On the other side, Minnesota, nice teacher, Coach Hunter, husband, father, Kamala Harris, running mate.

[Governor Tim Walz]

And I gotta tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy. That is, if he's willing to get off the couch and show up.

[Heidi Mwogdi]

We spoke about 2024.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

How many votes do you think Liz Cheney won, you guys?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yeah, I. Not enough say that. So obviously not enough. Look, I think.

[Heidi Mwogdi]

But also, What a year 2025 has already been and even a little 2028. And today on the show, we're gonna bring you a condensed version of our south by SouthW. Support for the show comes from Smartsheet. Have you ever wondered about all the incremental steps it takes to launch a rocket ship?

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Have you?

[Heidi Mwogdi]

Whether you're organizing a team, scaling a business, or sending a rover across the solar system, smartsheet is the work management platform that helps all those details turn into one big leap. Smartsheet, the place where work flows. Learn more at smartsheet.com Vox Support for.

[Travis Larchuk]

Today Explained comes from Intuit. Reaching the right small businesses starts with the right data, or so I'm told. Intuit SMB Media Lab says they're a first of its kind small business ad network with access to audiences and insights from the makers of QuickBooks. They say you can target decision makers by industry, size, maturity, location, and even more. It's your gateway to B2SMB marketing success. You can learn more at MediaLabs.into IT.com.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Hello, everyone. This is Today Explained live at south by Southwest on the Vox Media podcast stage. I'm Sean Ramaswoorom, and you know who this is. Governor Tim Walz.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Good to be with you, Sean. Thanks for coming out, everybody. I was mentioning him. These are the folks that didn't get the Michelle Obama tickets. So welcome.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

I'm told she's next week. They're here for you.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yeah, yeah. All right.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

I want to ask you a question about weird. Do you think these guys are still weird?

[Governor Tim Walz]

These guys?

[Sean Ramaswamy]

No, these guys. Those guys. Remember those guys?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Oh, those guys. Oh, hell, yes, they are. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Look, obsessing with. Obsessing with choices people are making about their own lives, that has absolutely zero to do with you. That is weird. That might be too soft. That is really unnecessary.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

You were presumably chosen partially because of that moment, because you seemed to be particularly good at messaging. And I was scrolling through your Twitter over the past few months, and I saw one tweet that I thought was indicative of you still being better than your average Democrat at messaging. You said, elon Musk is a terrible president.

[Governor Tim Walz]

He threatened to sue me after that.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

No, he didn't. Did he really?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yes, he did. He threatened to sue me. It was that. And I called him a Nazi, and that did not help. So that. That might have been overboard, but no, it wasn't.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Did you watch the joint session this week?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yeah, parts of it. I did.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

I felt like the messaging from the Democrats was. Was muddled at that joint session. Some didn't show up at all. Some left early. Some wore pink and held up these feeble signs that said, you know, false or this is not normal. We all saw Representative Al Green protest. Stand up.

[Governor Tim Walz]

I. I served with Al Green. That. That is a good man.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

But there wasn't a unified message. Did you want to see something more unified from your party?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yes. Yes. Other than bidding on an antique tea set or whatever was happening. So, yes, I wanted something more than that. But. But look, I think for all of us, it was, you know, Will Rogers made that case in the 30s that I don't belong to any organized party. I'm a Democrat and the herding cats piece of that. But what I know is, and at least I'm hearing it from my constituents in Minnesota and I'm hearing it across the country, there's a primal scream of, do something. Do something. Now I have the advantage as a governor. I can do something. We can put up firewalls against them. You're not going to demonize our people. We're going to continue to make sure our children are fed. We're going to. I called the premiers of Ontario and Manitoba and said, look, the official policy is theirs, but we like you, we like Canadians. We like what we trade together. And so that message of how to do it, and I'm making the case. Look, when I get asked this, what should we be doing? I'm probably the last guy. I didn't get it done. And we needed to win. And that's where we're in this pickle, because we didn't win. But I'm being reflective of what I could have done better, what I should have done better. I don't have a big solution. But what I think for all of us is, is what's encouraging to me, these town halls, the kind of organic folks bringing up, there's not going to be a charismatic leader ride in and come up with this just perfectly delivered message that's going to get us out of this. It's going to be a whole bunch of people who don't want to see kids go hungry, who don't want to see health care ripped apart, who don't want to throw Ukraine under the bus on the side of Russia. Those folks are going to stand up and make a difference. So, yes, in answer to your question, yes, it's frustrating, but it's hard. I served for 12 years in Congress and someone said, would you like to go back? I said, I would rather eat glass than go back to Congress.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Why is that?

[Governor Tim Walz]

It's frustrating. Now you can't get things done. And look, I came from a very. I was since 1892 in the congressional district where I was at, two Democrats won that seat. I got reelected in 2016 for the last time and I had the same positions. Whatever. Now I'll acknowledge to you it has shifted dramatically. I probably couldn't win that congressional district having the same positions. And what's happened with that is it eroded to the point where you don't have the crossover. And as a governor, I can do things. I don't want to hold up a bidding paddle when President Trump is lying about what the future's gonna hold for us.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

So James Carville said in a New York Times op ed that the Democrats should sort of roll over and play dead, let the Republicans have their way with the government, anger voters to the point that they're repulsed by their policies and then go for a shot in the jugular. What do you think of that strategy?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Well, I don't agree with it and I don't agree with it in this, that. Well, first, this idea that people need to feel the pain. I'm going to do all I can as governor. What I said, it's going to be painful, but I said to my team is, is that we protect the most vulnerable, we protect our gains. That's what we're going to do. Now, I know that what, what James is saying is when somebody's digging a hole, let them keep digging. Don't get in. I'm kind of the adage, especially with these guys, let's help them dig and get this hole done faster so people start flipping and we can start fixing this thing quicker. So I don't think just setting back and letting the policies that are go for this isn't simple disagreement on tax rates, simple disagreement on how much we should do on defense spending versus domestic or whatever. This is an all out assault around Article 1 of the Constitution. Again, I don't want to overreact, but I said this last week and I stand by this. The road to authoritarianism is littered with people saying, you're overreacting. And I think that piece of it, of speaking out.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Matters, since you understand how Congress works. You were there. What would you be doing if you were there? Right now it seems like Democrats, you know, they don't have power, they can't do much. James Carl is saying, great, you don't have to let them mess this up. But if you were sitting there right now, what do you think you would be doing or saying?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yeah, it's hard. And the thing about Congress, some of the folks with less hair in here remember this, remember that I'm just a bill sitting on Capitol Hill. That's total bull crap. It doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way. But look, it was relationships, it was things that you could do. I'm not there. So this is second guessing. And again, if I'm criticizing anybody in Congress, they are rightfully to say, oh, says my son did this, and I'm giving him wisdom from a father. And in the middle of that wisdom lecture, he said, oh, yes, says the guy who got his ass kicked by Donald Trump. And so I'm, I'm like, okay, fair enough. So I don't, I don't, I don't, you know, want to be the guy to lecture them, but I don't think you give them a single vote on these unqualified members of the Cabinet, and I think you make it clear that the American public, you're voting for them.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Okay, I got, I got one more practical question about Congress and then we'll move on. But funding for the federal government set to round out on Friday. How do you want to see Democrats navigate that one?

[Governor Tim Walz]

This is the really difficult question, and this is where it's going to sound like a bit contradictory on my part. This idea of not wanting people to suffer or whatever. This is one of those cases, though. This is their responsibility. Things like the debt ceiling just be very clear. Nobody. When, when your party has power, it's your responsibility to raise the debt ceiling, and that's to pay the bills that have already been done. That's not increased spending. And every single time people don't want to do that because it's like bad messaging, but you've got to do it. When Barack Obama needed to rise the debt ceiling, I voted to do that. So I'm part of doing that. I would argue we're in A different time and what's happening right now. And I think if the Republicans can't pass a budget with the presidency, the House and the Senate, you let them figure that part out. And if the government shuts down. Now, here's what I worry about is I care deeply about the shutdown because it will have an impact. It will have an impact on states. I can only backfill so much. But I think if you don't do that and if you give them the votes to pass this horrific budget just to avoid a shutdown, we're only prolonging the pain. We're gonna have to go through this and we'll have to get it done. So I would hope they make the Republicans pass this and own it.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Have they done anything you liked? They've done a lot. Have they done anything you thought, well, that's helpful.

[Governor Tim Walz]

That's a fair question. Because I know. Yeah, I don't want to be that.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

It sounds like there's plenty you don't like.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yeah, you're right, man. Okay, I'll. Two things. And especially today, two things. Two things. I'll mention this especially today, tonight, I, I think I come down on Trump's side on daylight savings time. So he started talking about that. I'll give you that.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

So someone over there too.

[Governor Tim Walz]

I'll give you that one. So I'm pretty fiscally conservative. So here's the thing. I heard Donald Trump talk about this and I'm with him. I think we should get rid of the penny. I think it's outlived its thing. So, yeah, the world's melting down around us, but Donald and I are solving the penny crisis. So I am bipartisan.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

3 point something cents to make. It doesn't make any sense.

[Heidi Mwogdi]

Governor Tim Walls.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

We're going to talk about what we.

[Heidi Mwogdi]

Can learn from 2024 on the long, long, long road to 2028. And we return on Today Explained.

[Laura Bullard]

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[Governor Tim Walz]

To.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

The window, to 10 walls to the wall, to the south by Southwest on all these conference calls. Oh, today he explained his fact south of south by Southwest. Let's talk about 2024 for a minute here. Not because I want to dwell in the past, but you brought it up that you guys didn't win. I want to better understand why not. You guys didn't swing a single swing state in your direction. A lot of people were stunned by that. Were you surprised? Were you stunned?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yeah. And I tell you this, that when you're in this business, you've got to be just, you know, steely eyed and cold hearted about where things are at. I, I spent my time in about seven swing states and, and felt like I was getting down to where folks were at. Obviously not. And I think the soul searching that comes with that is why did our message about focusing on the middle class, expanded health care, Medicare, hope for home health care, work, environmental issues? Why did that not work? Because it felt like to me that it was resonating and it did not and we didn't. And I think the team around me said this, we'll either win all seven or we'll lose all seven on this. I think that they thought because it was these things are so nationalized now that it didn't matter. I'm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania talking to folks who are up in Erie or you're in Waukesha in Wisconsin. The national narrative over the top of that was going to drive it and it felt like we were there and I, you know, drinking my own Kool Aid or whatever and that's on me.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

I said, I own that you've been doing soul searching. Is there one thing you wish you could take back or are there, you know, a half dozen or so? If there's one thing you could take back or do over, what do you think it would be?

[Governor Tim Walz]

One thing I will not take back is when I said he was skipping like a dipshit. I own it. I own that. I'm not taking it back. I'm not taking that back. Yeah, I think I would have taken back getting myself sucked into the conversation around what was happening in Springfield, Ohio. And it hit me on the heartstring on this. And look, I know my weaknesses on this. I am a sucker. If somebody's nice to me, I'll be nice to them type of thing. This one was. It so struck me like reprehensible that they were saying this about people. That I was in like a three or four day debate making my case that this is not happening in Springfield, Ohio. And every time I was saying that we were talking about Springfield, Ohio and immigration, we weren't talking about other things that mattered to people. And I went down that line trying to do, I think, morally the right thing, it turns out. How much have you heard about Springfield, Ohio, by the way, since that election? What Donald Trump has mastered is he floods the zone to the point where you don't get to make your point. And it doesn't matter if it was eating dogs and cats because it was immigration and people were uncomfortable with immigration. And so I would, I would do that differently.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

I don't think Vice President Harris has been asked this, but I bet one thing she wished she could take back was that moment in that interview with the View where she said she wouldn't change a single thing the Biden administration was doing. I think that I'm sure the right loved that and I think a lot of people on the left were stunned by that. Now she's not here, so I can't ask her. But let me ask you, in that moment, had that question been posed to you? I mean, what were things that you think you could change that the Biden administration could have been doing better, have.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Been out there telling us that the inflation was real and this hurt. I think, you know, if I, in retrospect, which is 2020 hindsight type of thing, I think there should have been talk about sending, especially in the summer of, of 23, potentially sending, you know, stimulus checks to folks to try and counter some of that and making it clear that we were fighting for them. Look, I Think you were always going against this idea of change they wanted. It was a change election, it's happened globally. We needed to be the change. And what that statement more than anything was. A lot of great work was done by the administration. We do have the best economy. But that doesn't matter on a micro scale to someone if they can't afford their rent payment. But in fairness to the vice president, had it been me in that moment, I might have made that same thing, might have said and I think that's we as Democrats better do some soul searching about that. Why would we do that? It's not like we're blindly loyal like you know, the Trump folks are. But there was, it's okay to criticize people you like. In fact that's what you need. You gotta surround yourself with people who aren't. Yes. People to tell you like you didn't do a very good job on this or you should change this. We didn't do that. We didn't do it.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

You know, you watch the rnc, you don't see the Bushes on stage, you certainly don't see the Cheney's, but you watch the DNC and you still see the Obamas and the Clintons. Do you think it's time that. I mean I'm not going to say, you know, don't put Barack Obama on stage, don't put Michelle Obama on stage, but do you think it's time the Democratic Party refresh a little bit, put some fresh faces on there because here we are and there's still no one has any idea who's coming next.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Well, I will say this, the DNC was a good party on that. I thought it would do something better than them. But let's. Yes, yes. And I'm going to say can this be our bar? Let's have our 2028 candidate have hair.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Ouch. Took yourself out of the race.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Reflective on this. I, look, I don't want to downplay that. We just need to, whoever it is needs to win and we need to understand that. But I don't deny this, this sense of the future. Now with that logic or whatever, look what the Republicans did. I said this, we don't have term limits in Minnesota and you do a four year term. I've done two of those. I could finish my term now and do four more terms as governor and be younger than Donald Trump. So this idea that, well, the Republicans are young and fresh or whatever, that's not totally true either. But I think, I do think they engage people more. They're more willing to give them that especially. And I think it feels like there's a bottleneck in elected office where it's, it's the, the choice shouldn't be between running your parents for the Senate or putting them into a home. We should, that should not be the choice. And we get a little bit. Or for governor. Fair enough. No hair. I get it.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

So the Trump administration, the Trump campaign seems to mostly run on the economy, immigration, but they get into office and it feels like they're mostly focused on draining the so called swamp and wokeness. Now, the wokeness they seem to be campaigning against. Some of it started in your state with the murder of George Floyd. And it seems like they are betting that the majority of the American people, or at least their base thinks that there was an overcorrection after the death of George Floyd. Whatever happened with BLM and dei, what do you think about that?

[Governor Tim Walz]

I think we have not done a good job of explaining it. And look, we, I don't know, you fire, you have a whole bunch of top military officers, only two, you fire a woman and a black man. I think we need to name that when it happens, just to be clear, need to name it. But we also need to tell the average person who I do not believe racist but doesn't understand what we're saying and they have been conditioned by the other side that we are somehow passing over well qualified white males to put these people in there. I think we as Democrats have a great example to rebut that. Just look at the cabinet. Just look at this current cabinet. If that's the best and brightest coming from the other side, seriously, that we should make that case about accountability. And so yes, I, and look, I don't deny this. Do I think we're losing elections and folks in the middle doing this? Yeah, I think it's costing votes. But I think, and I say this as a teacher, I always said this. If I would teach a lesson and then I would give a quiz on it and half the class would fail it. I didn't assume that half wasn't very smart. What I assumed is, is the method that I use to teach hit part of the class but didn't hit another because of their learning styles or whatever it might be. So I want them to learn this geography concep I should teach it in three or four or five different ways to make sure I'm as broad as possible that they got the concept on that. I think we teach DEI one way on this instead of being more strategic about how we Talk about it, because I don't believe my neighbors think it's a horrible thing to make sure everybody's got a shot to be able to succeed, and that helps all of us. So, yeah, I think we're not doing a good job with that. I think it is electorally hurting us, but more importantly, it's hurting real people in their real lives, and it's throwing up those systemic barriers that held us back for generations that we. I think we're getting at.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

There's some cognitive dissonance in this country right now because some people can't believe that we're canceling aid to African children, that we're deporting migrants the way we're doing it, that we're treating trans people the way we're treating them. And then it seems like half the country's pleased his punch about it all, which is confusing. It feels like we're losing a sense of ourselves. But you just spent months crisscrossing the country, shaking every hand in sight, and you seem like a glass half full kind of guy. What would you say to people who are losing faith in their American identity right now? Because it feels like you still got faith?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yeah, no, it's tough. I don't want to whisper past the graveyard, but, you know, it's not a cliche. Every generation has to renew the democracy. And again, I. I will admit it. I would like to live in precedented times. I'm sick of living in unprecedented times. Oh, no, governors. I'm sick of that. I want normalcy. I don't want to see these people. But there's also an opportunity and a privilege for us to reimagine. And when I got asked the other day, they said, who's the leader of the Democratic Party? I'm like, hell if I know. I think it's the people who are out there. I think it's the working class, because we are not cultish. It's pretty clear if you ask a Republican who's leader of the Republican Party, because they can't say it fast, fast enough, put on their red hat and dance to the tune. We're not going to dance to that tune. But we have a set of shared values. And so I am optimistic. I do believe. And look, I do believe that arc of the moral universe bends, but I don't think it bends by itself. I think you got to reach up and pull it some to get there.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

This is a bit of a personal question. Do you miss wearing your glasses?

[Governor Tim Walz]

I ran this. I'm freakishly fast. Still for an old man. I run 22 miles a week. I can still run 8, 30 miles. Pretty casual. So I went running this morning. I put in my contacts. I think it does make me look less old that I have to get criticized online. My vanity.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

It seemed like you lost them right around the time you got the running mate gig. And I wonder. You're still out here. You're talking to us right now at south by Southwest. I saw you on, I think Maddow. I saw you talking to Molly Jong fast. David Remnick. Are you running for something right now?

[Governor Tim Walz]

I am not. I have the potential, if I would be given the privilege to run for a third term of governor of Minnesota. But I hope those are Minnesota. But no, not. But my goal is. And I don't, you know, the ticket. We just need to make sure that we have a winning candidate for 28. Not because they're Democrats, but because they care about people and they adhere to our values.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Okay, Governor, I got one last thing. Because we're in Austin and someone told me that Austin isn't as weird as it used to be. And she was lamenting that. I wanted to ask you if you've noticed something that's happening on social media right now with the guy who did get the gig to be.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Yes. My son sent it to me.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

What did he send you?

[Governor Tim Walz]

He sent me a lot of them. And I think trying to figure that out.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

A lot of what?

[Governor Tim Walz]

A lot of my opponent's memes that were. Is that what you're talking about?

[Sean Ramaswamy]

I brought a smattering of them for you today to pick your favorite. We've got Emojd Vance here. Let's see what else we got.

[Governor Tim Walz]

This is painful for me because my son's gonna say, yeah, all those. And he kicked your ass, so.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Well, it was the other guy. We got Shaman. J.D. vance. We got Hulk Hogan. J.D. vance.

[Governor Tim Walz]

What is it with this? Does anybody know him?

[Sean Ramaswamy]

James. J.D. vance. The guy from Sheck. J.D. vance. Violet from Willy Wonka. J.D. vance. Just a few more here. Minion. J.D. vance.

[Governor Tim Walz]

What's behind this?

[Sean Ramaswamy]

I think it started around the time they won. Maybe a little bit before they won. People just started having fun with his face. This is like Sid's toy from toy story. Mutilated. J.D. vince. This is actually.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Might be the one silver lining. I didn't win. I can't imagine what they'd do with me. I don't know.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

I think it's a JD Specific meme. This is the sphere. JD Vance. That's actually my favorite they get really weird. Kim Jong un. J.D. vance. I'm sorry, Marjorie Taylor Greene. J.D. vance. Big that's we got the crowd's favorite, two more Melania with the hat, J.D. vance. And then lastly, I couldn't find Tim Wall's J.D. vance, but I could unfortunately find Kamala Harris. J.D. vance.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Well, there you go.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Any favorites, sir, before we go?

[Governor Tim Walz]

Thank you for that. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but I'm gonna take it. That was good.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Governor Tim Walls, everybody.

[Governor Tim Walz]

Thank you all.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Thank you so much.

[Heidi Mwogdi]

Governor Tim Walls. Walls2028.com kidding. Kidding.

[Governor Tim Walz]

I guess.

[Heidi Mwogdi]

You can go to Minnesota's website mn.gov we spoke at south by Southwest on Saturday. Heidi Mwogdi, Travis Larchuk, Laura Bullard, Amanda Llewellyn, Andre Christensdottir, Patrick Boyd and Miranda Kennedy helped put the show together today. And lots and lots of people from the greater Vox Media cinematic universe helped us out at sxsw. Thanks a Milly Rock to all of them. If you want more Vox Media at South by Southwest, our colleague Kara Swisher spoke to Senator Elizabeth Warren on stage shortly after our conversation with Tim Walls. You can find that over at on with Kara Swisher. For now, we here at Today Explained are off. Our sincere thanks to Smartsheet for supporting this episode of Today Explained. Whether your team is scheduling complex surgeries, getting a race car to the finish line, or sending rovers to distant planets, they need a single place to allow their work to flow. And that place, according to Smartsheet, is Smartsheet. If you are ready to learn more, visit smartsheet.com Vox Smartsheet the place where work flows.

[Travis Larchuk]

Support for Today Explained comes from Intuit. Reaching the right small businesses starts with the right data, or so I'm told. Intuit SMB Media Lab says they're a first of its kind small business ad network with access to audiences and insights from the makers of QuickBooks. They say you can target decision makers by industry, size, maturity, location and even more. It's your gateway to B2SMB marketing success. You can learn more at medialabs.into it.com.