On Monday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz held a “press conference,” during which he didn’t answer a single question. Instead, he just read a modified version of a statement he released earlier in the day about his decision to drop his bid for a third term as governor of Minnesota. Reporters weren’t thrilled that they didn’t get to ask any questions, but they finally got their chance on Tuesday, and well… it was a huge mess.
When asked a straightforward question about whether he ended his campaign on his own or under pressure from fellow Democrats, Gov. Tim Walz quickly veered off course and into Democrat talking points about the anniversary of January 6.
“Did you make the decision to end your campaign by yourself or did you receive, uh, pressure from Democratic allies and friends?” the reporter asked.
Walz first claimed the decision was personal. “Uh, this is a decision that I make and make with my family. Um, and certainly, I think as I said, it’s the right decision,” he said, trailing off before abruptly changing subjects the first time.
He launched into a complaint about outside criticism and media attention, claiming Minnesota was under attack. “I’ll note, I think it’s appropriate we’re here today. Uh, the war that’s being waged against Minnesota, you’re seeing it. We have a ridiculous surge of apparently 2,000 people not coordinating with us that are for a show of the cameras.”
Related: DOJ Launches Criminal Investigation Into Tim Walz
But that’s where things got really bizarre. At this point, while answering the same question, Walz made a sharp pivot to January 6, despite the question having nothing to do with the Capitol riot. “Um, I’m gonna note to all of you, today is January 6th. There’s no debate what happened. The President of the United States led an insurrection against a fair election to try and overturn that,” Walz said, lecturing reporters on how the issue should be covered. He continued: “and, you know, report both sides of this. ‘Well, he, you know, he said he really didn’t, and courts convicted 400 of them, and he pardoned them.’ No, he did that.”
Walz closed his answer by looping the January 6 reference into a grievance about federal funding, again without tying it back to the original question. “He did that, and that’s today. And it’s clear that we also saw today he implemented five states are being punished with a freezing of federal funds illegally that were appropriated by Congress, our tax dollars.”
NEW: Governor Tim Walz is asked why he dropped out of the 2026 race, starts rambling about January 6th.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 6, 2026
Reporter: "Did you end your campaign by yourself or did you receive pressure from Democratic allies?
Walz: "This is a decision I made... I'm going to note to all of you,… pic.twitter.com/hapnSc811j
He also had a bit of a meltdown over the issue of whether he would resign, and tried to turn the tables on Trump and the GOP.
“Their idea of improving this state is being a parrot for Donald Trump, agreeing to everything that he agreed with,” he claimed. “Well, here's what I'm gonna tell you. It ain't happening, I'm not going anywhere, and you can make all your requests for me to resign. Over my dead body will that happen.”
He continued, “I will fight this thing till the very end to make this state better. And the question that I think they need to decide is, is when did the guy in the White House resign? When does he take accountability for what he did?”
Tim Walz is in a desperate need of a chill pill.
— Tom Emmer (@tomemmer) January 6, 2026
He just had an absolute meltdown in front of media saying he is REFUSING to resign.
It is time to take accountability, Timmy! pic.twitter.com/noFR946c24
I guess someone on his PR team told him to flip every question into an attack on Trump and the GOP. Well, it didn’t make him look good at all. It made him appear panicked, scared, and, frankly, desperate. It’s like he knows his political legacy is on the line and he’s treading water, hoping for a lifeline to save him. Well, the DOJ has launched a criminal investigation into Walz, and despite his defiance, he may not have much of a choice about his political future soon enough.
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