Former vice presidential nominee Tim Walz was left speechless when asked who is in charge of the Democratic party.
The Minnesota governor appeared to be startled by CNN’s Kasie Hunt’s probe on live television Wednesday night, seemingly unable to answer her straightforward question.
‘Who do you think the leader of the Democratic Party is right now?’ Hunt asked while appearing on her show The Arena with Kasie Hunt.
After a long and uncomfortable pause, Walz, 60, awkwardly laughed before mumbling an unexpected answer.
‘I think the voting public, right now, is what I would say,’ he stiffly responded.
‘We’re not going to have a charismatic leader ride in and save us from this,’ he added of his struggling party.
Brought on the afternoon broadcast to discuss President Donald Trump’s joint congressional address, the 60-year-old politician was also asked if he sees anyone who could possibly ‘be a Democratic national figure?’
‘I see a whole lot of them,’ Walz said. ‘I see young members of Congress stepping up, I see folks out there, I see it out here, state senators, state legislators, folks that are getting ready. Labor union members who are out there talking. I think the thing we need to do is: We can’t cede the space. If Donald Trump’s going to be out there…we have to be there every day.
‘We need to be better organized. There is going to be an organic uprising which we’re seeing.’
When Hunt asked if former Vice President Kamala Harris could be the party’s future leader, Walz responded: ‘I certainly think she could be.’
Tim Walz, 60, was obviously stunned by CNN ‘s Kasie Hunt’s probe on live television Wednesday night, seemingly unable to answer her straightforward question
After a long and uncomfortable pause, Walz, 60, awkwardly laughed before mumbling an unexpected answer
However, Walz isn’t the first to contend with this question. Since Harris’ loss in November, Democratic lawmakers have expressed discontent with their party’s leadership – or lack of.
‘There’s no one, certainly, that the party, I would argue, looks to, or feels led by, or inspired by, is the truth,’ former Democratic Representative Dean Phillips told The Hill.
The former party representative showed little hope in his languishing party, claiming it is suffering from a ‘lack of leadership’.
‘Any organization – business, for-profit, nonprofit, political party – that lacks spirited leadership is going to suffer. And I think you can count us among those organizations right now. There’s just no question,’ Phillips added.
CNN’s Kasie Hunt puzzled the Democratic governor while on her show, The Arena with Kasie Hunt, on Wednesday
Walz’s off-putting interview came just days after he signaled he would ‘certainly consider’ running for president in 2028, despite his crushing defeat this past November.
‘Look, I never had an ambition to be president or vice president. I was honored to be asked,’ he told The New Yorker Radio Hour on Sunday.
‘If I feel I can serve, I will. And if nationally, people are like, “Dude we tried you, and look how that worked out,” I’m good with that.’
‘If I think I could offer something … I would certainly consider that,’ he added.
Yet, the division of the Democratic party was made expressly clear after Democrats had a variety of responses to Trump’s Congressional Address on Tuesday.
Hunt later asked if former Vice President Kamala Harris could be the party’s future leader, to which Walz responded: ‘I certainly think she could be’
Representative Al Green, a Democrat from Texas, was even removed from the chamber for repeatedly interrupting Trump at the beginning of the address on Tuesday
Many silently listened, others walked out and some even wore pink – a color of power and protest, according to Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico, who leads the Democratic Women’s Caucus – in protest.
Representative Al Green, a Democrat from Texas, was even removed from the chamber for repeatedly interrupting Trump at the beginning of the address.
‘Last night I stood up for those who need Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
‘Democrats will never abandon the fight to make sure every American has a safe, healthy, and financially secure life. #ISaidWhatISaid,’ Green wrote on X Wednesday night.
Green’s fellow lawmakers voted to censure him on Thursday. Nearly every Republican and 10 Democrats voted in favor of the resolution.
