Gov. Tim Walz is vowing to fight Donald Trump’s agenda while working to understand his appeal

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Waltz pledged Friday to make Minnesota a safe haven for the values ​​that underpinned the Democratic presidential candidates he helped lead, while pledging to work harder to understand the concerns of President-elect Donald Trump’s voters.

In the auditorium of a high school in Eagan, Minnesota, a suburb south of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Walz addressed his thoughts to a number of supporters Trump’s election victorya finding that left him searching for answers.

“It is difficult to understand why so many of our fellow citizens, people for whom we fought so long and hard, ultimately chose the other path,” Walz said. “It’s hard to predict what that path will look like in the next four years.”

Several spectators got dressed Harris Walz camouflage campaign hats and exchanged hugs before the governor took the stage. They gave him a standing ovation and chanted his name as he and his wife, Gwen Walz, delivered their words.

Tim Walz thanked Kamala Harris for choosing him as her vice president and for her friendship. His rise in the Democratic Party allowed him to learn more about the country he had hoped he would serve as vice president, he said. Even in the face of defeat and a polarized political climate, Walz maintained that most Americans had similar concerns.

“People really want the same basic things about an American life. And I want to be clear when I say basic things. I mean things like meaningful work, safe neighborhoods, good schools, affordable, quality healthcare. But I also mean a little more,” said Walz. “I realized that people want security. I mean that in the broadest sense. They want to feel like their lives are built on solid foundations that won’t crumble beneath them.”

Walz also said that Americans wanted the freedom to live their lives as they saw fit, a message that once was Foundation stone the Harris Walz campaign. To that end, Walz pledged to make Minnesota a bulwark against possible attacks by a second Trump administration on abortion rights, immigrants and unions.

“Look, we know what’s coming. We know because they told us,” Walz said. “The moment they try to bring a hateful agenda to this state, I will be ready to stand up and fight.”

Walz returned from the presidential campaign to a new era divided state governmentnow that Republicans appear to have broken the full Democratic control that helped him rise to power Kamala Harris’ radar. He was elected governor in 2018 and re-elected in an election in 2022 gave both chambers to the Democrats of the state parliament.

In his remarks Friday, Walz pointed to several measures Democrats were able to enact during that time, including stronger protections for abortion rights, child tax credits, paid family and medical leave, free school meals for all children and gun safety measures. Those political victories allowed him to tell a story about Minnesota’s progress in the presidential campaign, he said.

Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz, who often accompanied her husband on the campaign trail, said Minnesota would remain a safe haven. As she processed the election results, she said the Walzes found comfort in their favorite Bible verse: “I fought the good fight, I finished the race and I kept the faith.”

“Minnesota, we kept the faith,” Gwen Walz said.

While the governor implored opponents of Trump’s agenda to keep fighting, he also called on all Americans to bridge the political divides that widened during the election.

“Maybe when we get a little break from this campaign we can look at each other and see not enemies but neighbors,” Walz said. “Maybe I’ll sit down with a coffee or a Diet Mountain Dew and just talk.”

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Associated Press writer Steve Karnowski contributed to this report.