Tim Walz finally came out on Monday to announce he was pulling a Joe Biden and ending his reelection campaign for governor of Minnesota, the frigid left-wing enclave that has devolved into a fraud-plagued hellhole on his watch. The prominent Democrat, who served as Kamala Harris's flamboyant running mate in 2024, is widely viewed (by Republicans) as the best choice to represent the party in the 2028 presidential election (should Harris decline to run).
"I will fight back with everything that I have," Walz said at a press conference explaining his decision to quit, which comes amid a long-overdue reckoning with the explosion in welfare fraud on his watch. Federal prosecutors estimate that of the $18 billion Minnesota has doled out across 14 taxpayer-funded programs since 2018, as much as half could be fraudulent. Walz finally conceded on Monday that elected leaders "should be concerned about fraud" in state government. "The buck does stop with me," he said before fleeing the podium without taking questions from reporters.
Doing what comes naturally, Walz blamed Donald Trump and other anti-fraud advocates for the scandal that has engulfed his administration. He blasted Republicans for highlighting Minnesota's large Somali community, in which much of the alleged fraud was concentrated. "We've got the president of the United States demonizing our Somali neighbors," he said. "It's disgusting and it's dangerous."
Days earlier, Walz accused his critics of promoting "white supremacy" after a conservative influencer went viral for investigating fraud at Somali-run daycare facilities in Minneapolis. The influencer, Nick Shirley, took credit for forcing the governor to step aside. "I ENDED TIM WALZ," he wrote on X. Genuine outrage among voters likely played a role as well. A poll taken in December found that a huge majority of registered voters thought welfare fraud was a major problem in Minnesota and wanted Walz to "do more" to crack down on the abuse of taxpayer dollars.
Walz, who has governed the North Star State since 2019 and presided over the devastating George Floyd riots, was relatively unknown before Harris announced him as her vice presidential nominee in August 2024. He was instantly praised (by journalists) as the paragon of Midwestern charm and "modern masculinity." Alas, the national spotlight quickly exposed Walz as a bumbling fabulist with a bizarre penchant for fabulous gesticulations on the stump. He lied about serving in combat and being in China during the Tiananmen Square massacre. He disgraced himself on the debate stage next to J.D. Vance.
The Democratic ticket was pummeled at the polls, but that didn't stop Walz from trying to assert himself as a leading voice within the party. He went to Harvard and bragged about his ability to "code talk to white guys watching football, fixing their truck." (Fact check: He doesn't know anything about football.) He went on Gavin Newsom's podcast and complained that Republicans were misogynist for questioning his masculinity. He said his biggest takeaway from the 2024 election was that Americans were even more racist than he thought.
Walz's exit from the 2026 gubernatorial race leaves an opening that may soon be filled by another big-name Democrat. The New York Times reports that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) met with Walz over the weekend and "confirmed her interest" in running. Klobuchar has long craved executive power, as evidenced by her failed campaign for president in 2020, which generated a series of damning reports about her "explosive rage" and "dehumanizing" treatment of staff.
Former Klobuchar staffers recalled that the senator regularly left employees in tears and terrorized them with late-night emails berating them for minor mistakes. The most memorable incident involved a trembling aide she verbally flogged for bringing her a salad without utensils on a flight to South Carolina. Klobuchar ate the salad with a comb from her purse, then ordered the staffer to clean it. She also assaulted an aide with a binder and bragged about killing a duck on the golf course. Nevertheless, mainstream journalists repeatedly praised her as an icon of Midwestern decency.
If Klobuchar runs, she wouldn't be the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate with a notorious reputation for staff abuse. Katie Porter, the former congresswoman running for governor of California, has been dubbed the "West Coast Klobuchar" amid public scrutiny of her violent temper. Kamala Harris, who considered a gubernatorial bid in California, also has a history of traumatizing her aides until they quit.
Klobuchar doesn't just endorse violence within her office. She was one of several Democratic senators who wrote a letter of support for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an anti-Israel activist group that blamed the Jewish state for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
It remains to be seen whether Walz will serve out the remainder of his term. Donald Trump on Monday suggested that the "Corrupt Governor" may be forced to resign early when the full extent of Minnesota's welfare fraud is revealed. Trump has described Walz as "seriously retarded," a phrase that offended most journalists. But the president refused to apologize when pressed. "I think there’s something wrong with him, absolutely," he explained.
READ MORE:
• A Minnesotan Who Begged Kamala Harris To Relieve Him of Gov. Tim Walz Finally Gets His Wish
• 2025 Men of the Year: Minnesota Motorists Calling Tim Walz 'The R Word'
