Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sat down with Sean Rameswaram over the weekend at SXSW in Austin, Texas, to talk about 2024, 2025, and what might help his party in 2028. This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh with help from Travis Larchuk, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact-checked by Laura Bullard and Amanda Lewellyn, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. The whole SXSW interview with Governor Walz will be up on Vox's Youtube channel later this week. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast Support Today, Explained by becoming a Vox Member today: http://www.vox.com/members Sean Rameswaram and MN Governor Tim Walz arrive to the SXSW stage for the Today, Explained interview in Austin this weekend. Photo by Getty Images/Vox Media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What was discussed at SXSW with Governor Walz?
Here's a fun one we took today explained on the road this past weekend to Austin, Texas for South by Southwest, where we spoke with Governor Tim Walz. Remember Tim Walz?
These are these are weird people on the other side.
Minnesota nice teacher, coach, hunter, husband, father, Kamala Harris, running mate.
And I got to tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy. That is if he's willing to get off the couch and show up.
We spoke about 2024. How many votes do you think Liz Cheney won, you guys?
Yeah, not enough. I would say that. So obviously not enough.
But also what a year 2025 has already been and even a little 2028. And today on the show, we're going to bring you a condensed version of our South by Southwest conversation. Support for the show comes from Yonder. There's a certain time and place for you to be checking your phone, and the classroom probably isn't one of them.
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Chapter 2: What does Governor Walz think about Liz Cheney's vote count?
matters since you understand how congress works you were there what would you be doing if you were there right now it seems like democrats you know they don't have power they can't do much james carl was saying great you don't have to let them mess this up but if you were sitting there right now what do you think you would be doing or saying yeah it's hard and the thing about congress some of the the folks with less hair in here to remember this remember that i'm just a bill sitting on capitol hill that's total bull crap it doesn't
It doesn't work that way. But look, it was relationships. It was things that you could do. I'm not there, so this is second guessing. And again, if I'm criticizing anybody in Congress, they are rightfully to say, oh, says my son did this. And I'm giving him wisdom from a father. And in the middle of that wisdom lecture, he said, oh yeah, says the guy who got his ass kicked by Donald Trump.
And so I'm like, okay, fair enough. So I don't want to be the guy to lecture them But I don't think you give them a single vote on these unqualified members of the cabinet. And I think you make it clear that the American public, you're voting for them.
Okay, I got one more practical question about Congress, and then we'll move on. But funding for the federal government is set to run out on Friday. How do you want to see Democrats navigate that one?
This is the really difficult question, and this is where it's going to sound like a bit contradictory on my part, this idea of not wanting people to suffer or whatever. This is one of those cases, though. This is their responsibility. Things like the debt ceiling, just to be very clear. Nobody, when your party has power, It's your responsibility to raise the debt ceiling.
And that's to pay the bills that have already been done. That's not increased spending. And every single time, people don't want to do that because it's like bad messaging. But you've got to do it. When Barack Obama needed to rise the debt ceiling, I voted to do that. So I'm part of doing that. I would argue we're in a different time in what's happening right now.
And I think if the Republicans can't pass a budget with the presidency, the House, and the Senate, You let them figure that part out. And if the government shuts down... Now, here's what I worry about is... I care deeply about the shutdown because it will have an impact. It will have an impact on states. I can only backfill so much.
But I think if you don't do that and if you give them the votes to pass this horrific budget just to avoid a shutdown, we're only prolonging the pain. We're gonna have to go through this and we're gonna have to get it done. So I would hope they make the Republicans pass this and own it. Have they done anything you liked?
They've done a lot. Had they done anything you thought, well, that's helpful.
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Chapter 3: What challenges are Democrats facing in 2025?
It costs three point something cents to make. It doesn't make any sense. Governor Tim Walz. We're going to talk about what we can learn from 2024 on the long, long, long road to 2028. And we return on Today Explained. Let's talk about 2024 for a minute here. Not because I want to dwell on the past, but you brought it up that you guys didn't win. I want to better understand why not.
You guys didn't swing a single swing state in your direction. A lot of people were stunned by that. Were you surprised?
Were you stunned? Yeah, and I tell you this, when you're in this business, you've got to be just... you know, steely eyed and cold hearted about where things are at. I, I spent my time in about seven swing States and, and felt like I was getting down to where folks were at. Um, obviously not.
And I think the soul searching that comes with that is, is why did our message about focusing on the middle class, expanded healthcare, uh, Medicare hope for home healthcare work, uh,
Environmental issues why did that not work because it felt like to me that it was resonating and it did not and we didn't and I think the team around me said this Will either win all seven or we'll lose all seven on this I think that they thought because it was these things are so nationalized now that it didn't matter. I'm in I
Lancaster Pennsylvania talking to folks are up in Erie or you're in Waukesha in Wisconsin the national narrative over the top of that was going to drive it and it felt like we were there and I you know drinking my own Kool-Aid or whatever and that's on me I said I own that you've been doing soul searching is there one thing you wish you could take back or are there you know a half dozen or so if there's one thing you could take back or do over what do you think it would be
One thing I will not take back is when I said he was skipping like a dipshit. I own it. I own that. I'm not taking it back. I'm not taking that back. Yeah, I think I would have taken back getting myself sucked into the conversation around what was happening in Springfield, Ohio. And it hit me on the heartstring on this. And look, I know my weaknesses on this. I am a sucker.
If somebody's nice to me, I'll be nice to them type of thing. This one was, it so struck me like... that they were saying this about people, that I was in like a three or four day debate making my case that this is not happening in Springfield, Ohio. And every time I was saying that, we were talking about Springfield, Ohio and immigration.
We weren't talking about other things that mattered to people. And I went down that line. trying to do, I think, morally the right thing. It turns out I'm, how much have you heard about Springfield, Ohio, by the way, since that election? What Donald Trump has mastered is he floods the zone to the point where you don't get to make your point.
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