Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz vowed to protect his state from President-elect Donald Trump’s “hateful agenda” while delivering remarks in Eagan, Minnesota, on Friday afternoon.
“The other side spent a lot of time campaigning and talking about and promising that they would leave things up to the states. Well, I’m willing to take them at their word for that,” said Walz, who was Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democratic ticket and whose second term as governor ends in 2027.
“The moment they try and bring a hateful agenda in this state, I’m going to stand ready to stand up and fight,” said the 60-year-old governor as supporters applauded.
“As long as I’m governor of Minnesota, we will protect a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions,” said Walz, part of a refrain that also included welcoming immigrants and “stand[ing] with the rest of the world in fighting climate change.”
“As long as I’m governor of Minnesota, we will defend our kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in their classroom,” said Walz.
After promising to fight against the Trump-Vance agenda, he extended an olive branch to Trump-supporting Minnesotans.
“I will say and acknowledge this: about one and a half million of our fellow Minnesotans voted for the other side in this election,” said Walz. He later added: “And while there might not be a place in our state for the most extreme elements of that agenda, there should be a place in our politics for everyone to be heard.”
“I think we ought to swallow, and this is me in this, as I’m speaking about myself, swallow a little bit of pride and look a little harder to find common ground with our neighbors who didn’t vote like we did in this election,” Walz said.
“Maybe when we get a little break from this campaign that we’re in, we’ll be able to look at each other and see not enemies but neighbors, and maybe we’ll be able to sit down over coffee or a Diet Mountain Dew and just talk, talk about our kids, talk about the lives we want to build for them,” Walz said. “Talk about the things that really matter: how we treat each other, how we look out for each other, and how we support each other in difficult times.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
