Earlier this week, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) made headlines for coming out against the Electoral College. He found himself almost immediately at odds with the Harris-Walz campaign, given a spokesperson confirmed that is not actually the official position. During his interview with ABC News, the question came up, and once more Walz flubbed his answer, with that moment having become a trending topic over X, as clips aired on Thursday night.
ABC News' Michael Strahan quoted Walz's own words back to him, that "the electoral college needs to go," also reminding him that it's not the campaign's position.
"Well, it's not the campaign's position," Walz acknowledged in his response. "And--and the point I'm trying to make is that there's folks that feel every vote must count in every state, and I think some of the folks feel that's not the case. Our campaign does that. And what I'm saying is, I'm in five states in two days, we're out there making the case. Th--the campaign's position is clear, that that's not their position, their position and my position is to make sure that everybody understands that their vote, no matter what state they're in, matters."
After such a rambling response, a confused Strahan asked, "so that's something that you and Vice President Harris disagree on?"
"Uh--I have spoken about it in the past that she's been very clear on this, and the campaign and my position is the campaign position," a visibly nervous Walz then offered.
In addition to Walz being nervous, his answer didn't make a whole lot of sense, if it did at all. We heard talk about swing states there, and he had also been discussing the swing states when he made his comments on Monday in California, which is certainly not a swing state. In talking about how he's had to travel to so many states in so few days, as one does during weeks before an election, it almost sounds as if Walz is lamenting the fact. Perhaps he's not cut out for such a role, then?
That the race is so close in the key swing states, with RealClearPolling having former and potentially future President Donald Trump leading by +0.4 in those states is not a good look for the Harris-Walz campaign.
Just as he should have known when it comes to being confronted about whether or not he was actually in Hong Kong for the Tiananmen Square massacre, as he was during last week's vice presidential debate against Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Walz really ought to have known that this kind of question from Strahan was coming.
Such a moment during last week's debate was arguably Walz's worst moment, in which he stammered and stumbled through a response and said he was "a knucklehead." Donald Trump, Jr., in sharing the Trump War Room clip of such a moment from the debate, referenced that remark, noting how he should have just gone with that kind of an answer.
Even still, Walz is just not very good at this, and it's looking increasingly as if this media blitz that he and Vice President Kamala Harris are partaking in isn't working. If anything, it may backfire, especially since these are often softball interviews with friendly networks and interviewers, and the candidates still can't do what they need to do.
It's also looking increasingly as if Harris and/or Walz are coming out increasingly against our norms and institutions, especially with Harris coming out against the filibuster last month.