While he's been trying to raise his national profile through town hall events outside of Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) can't be bothered to hold them in his own state, even though he's been governor since 2019. Earlier this week, there was a glimpse of why that might be, as a major concern with Walz for the 2024 election came back to haunt him at the State Capitol in Saint Paul.
On Wednesday, Walz was speaking at an event inside the Capitol building. As the governor tried to welcome everyone there, he was drowned out by loud yelling from veterans. "Coward," at least one man could be heard clearly yelling. Walz tried to reason with the crowd then, as he asks to be able to finish his remarks.
"Coward," the same man appears to yell once more. "He served, he doesn't have f****ng bone spurs, shut your f****ng mouth," a man continues to call out, leading to Walz to take an even more urgent tone. "Folks! Hey, there's some passion in the building, which is a good thing," the governor acknowledged.
🚨 Tim Walz was heckled and booed by military veterans in Minnesota today over his stolen valor. pic.twitter.com/It80ZIeZCC
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) April 10, 2025
A local news outlet, Fox News 9, also caught another angle of the remarks, and spoke with the governor after, as he tried to downplay the reactions. As one man in this clip yells, "You're a coward" at Walz, others there could be heard yelling in agreement.
Afterwards, when Walz was asked about "some of the boos and some of the heckling," he responded that there were "thank yous" as well, indicating to someone that "this guy wanted to go brawl, help me brawl the guy." The governor continued by offering, "look, that's what they're going to do, these folks are going to come here, they're going to face reality." He also appeared to place the blame on Trump and Republicans. "Some of these guys voted for what's happening at [Veterans Affairs] and they don't like it. Some of them come up here and say they're supporting folks who are voting against this. The House budget is grossly underfunded in veterans, and it has to change."
Despite Walz's lamentations about the House budget, it passed on Thursday morning.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was booed and heckled as he took the stage during a veterans program at the Minnesota Capitol on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/lAloDC5deV
— FOX 9 (@FOX9) April 10, 2025
The clip does not include mention of the reporter asking Walz about why they might be referring to the governor as a "coward," or how that could have to do with concerns on stolen valor, which plagued the governor when he was then Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate for the 2024 election.
Walz was a particularly poorly vetted candidate, if he was even vetted at all. From the very start, there were concerns of stolen valor, as he had been embellishing his record. He also didn't correct others who embellished his record in the past, especially when he was in the House. The campaign did a poor job of explaining it away, and those concerns also continued with last August's DNC as well, as he was falsely referred to as a "Command Major Sergeant."
Although he was part of the Minnesota National Guard, he left service before his unit was deployed to run for a U.S. House seat in 2006, which he won. It was a move that certainly drew the ire from fellow National Guardsmen.
At one point, it appeared all but certain that Harris would be choosing Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), the popular and moderate (enough) governor of a key, must-win swing state. There were reports that he had a bad interview and didn't want to leave the top spot in Pennsylvania. However, it also can't be ignored that Shapiro is Jewish and there were progressives expressing concerns even when Shapiro was just thought to be the pick, with Walz being one of those alternative suggestions.
There's been chatter surrounding Walz's town hall events in states around the country, not merely because of his consistently bizarre remarks, but as to if he might be running for president himself in 2028. As he told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday, he's not looking to run for president, but may run for governor again.