The Kamala Harris campaign for president was playing defense despite the fact it was losing from the start and never caught up to President Donald Trump, Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz told Politico as he weighed his own ambitions to run for president at the top of the ticket in 2028.
"We shouldn't have been playing this thing so safe," Walz told Politico.
"I think we probably should have just rolled the dice and done the town halls, where [voters] may say, You're full of s**t, I don't believe in you: I think there could have been more of that."
The campaign was ostensibly playing not to lose an election, and it was never winning, according to Walz.
"In football parlance, we were in a prevent defense to not lose when we never had anything to lose because I don't think we were ever ahead," he said.
As President Donald Trump and Republicans have long accused, Democrats were being "more cautious," staying away from engaging media in fear or being exposed, according to Walz.
Walz is now "not saying no" on running for president, he told Politico.
"I'm staying on the playing field to try and help because we have to win – and I will always say this: I will do everything in my power, and as I said, with the vice presidency, if that was me, then I'll do the job," he said.
But Democrats and Harris staffers interviewed by Politico noted Walz was a part of the problem, including a disastrous debate with JD Vance. Walz's debate gaffes included him saying he's made "friends with school shooters" – when he intended to say he made friends with victims of school shootings; and he ineffectivley pivoted off criticism for having misrepresented to the media his retired military rank,.
He then dismissed the poor optics of friendly trips to China: I'm kind of "knucklehead at times."
Walz was effectively put "in a box" to prevent hurting Harris' campaign down the stretch and "didn’t use him the way we could've," former Harris aides admitted to Politico, echoing Walz sentiments.
"This was a guy who definitely was embarrassed by his flubs, didn't handle them well, and seemed like there was a never-ending supply of them, so that was part of the issue of getting him out there everywhere," a Harris staffer told Politico. "I don't look back on that campaign and think that the way we used Walz was a critical error."
Also, Walz agreed that Vance put him on him on his heels because he was "super nervous," and did not "want to let down the ticket," according to Politico.
Leaving open the possibility to lead the 2028 Democrat primary field, Walz has publicly declined to run for Minnesota's open Senate seat in 2026.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.