Tim Walz Says Fight Against Trump, Musk Starts with Beating Schimel
A standing ovation in Eau Claire for Minnesota governor and former VP candidate.
Minnesota Gov. and 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz takes questions during a Tuesday town hall in Eau Claire. Rich Kremer/WPR
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told Democrats at an Eau Claire town hall Tuesday that the road to fighting back against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk starts with getting liberal Dane County Judge Susan Crawford elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 1.
The 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee also criticized Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Prairie du Chien for halting in-person town halls, suggesting he’s “scared” of hearing from constituents angry over federal cuts initiated by Trump and Musk.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s decision to hold its “People v. Musk” event in Eau Claire was meant to send a message to Van Orden, whose district is one of around a dozen the party is focused on flipping in 2026. Eau Claire is the largest city in the 3rd Congressional District, and throughout the evening, Walz and state Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler took turns criticizing Van Orden’s switch to virtual town halls due to what he has described as “George Soros-funded agitators” disrupting GOP events.
Walz, who just months ago was crisscrossing Wisconsin as Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ running mate, told the crowd he’s on the “most unsatisfactory ‘I told you so’ tour.” He described it as a “dark time” for America seeing parts of Republicans’ Project 2025 plan come to fruition after he and Harris warned about the plan ahead of their loss to Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Walz said Wisconsin Democrats can lead the nation in pushing back against Trump and Musk by defeating Schimel in two weeks.
“We have to take this like you do cleaning the house or whatever, one chunk at a time,” Walz said. “And America’s first chunk of cleaning is the Wisconsin Supreme Court, April 1.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks with Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler at a rally on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in Eau Claire, Wisc. Rich Kremer/WPR
Walz took questions from the audience that touched on fears that Trump and Republicans in Congress will gut social safety nets like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Kayanna Spooner of Chippewa Falls broke into tears describing a 2012 Parkinson’s diagnosis and her reliance on government funded medical research.
“This administration has stopped all of us in our tracks,” Spooner said. “Seniors and disabled people will pay the price. My family will pay the price. Our communities will pay the price. The broader world will pay the price. How do we fix this? What do we do?”
“We’re going to have to have a conversation that Democrats, quite honestly, have skirted around, that America’s health care system is still incredibly broken in a way that doesn’t serve people,” Walz said to growing cheers. “It’s incredibly frustrating.”
Bill Laman of Eau Claire, who organizes a weekly protest of Trump at a federal building in Eau Claire, likened the push against the president’s agenda to the “greatest generation” saving the world from Hitler in World War II.
“This is our World War II, to save the world from Trump,” Leman said.
“I agree,” Walz responded, adding that “the road to authoritarianism is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting.”
“You’re not overreacting,” Walz said. “You’re not overreacting.”
As the town hall drew to a close, Wikler told the crowd that groups backed by Musk have already spent $13.2 million on ads attacking Crawford, and Republicans see the world’s richest man as a “force field” who can bail them out when they attack Social Security and veterans.
“But when we win, when Susan Crawford wins this race, that force field disappears,” Wikler said.
Hundreds of Democrats in Eau Claire listen to Minnesota Gov. and former Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz during a town hall discussion on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.Rich Kremer/WPR
As Democrats spilled out into Eau Claire’s downtown, Katie Brunner of Chippewa Falls called Walz a “people’s person” and said she too wants a bolder Democratic Party.
“I’d like to see a little bit more fire from the Democratic Party,” Brunner said. “I think we’ve sat back and played the nice guy for too long. Lies are being spoken, and no one is standing up against those lies.”
Jessica Reichel of Bloomer agreed and said the Democratic Party has gotten “cliquish” with politicians fighting harder to maintain their position within the party than they are for working people.
“This isn’t a clique. You know, if you can’t provide policies that help people and help our communities, then you need to move on,” Reichel said.
A Van Orden spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the in-district Walz visit. But in a social media post Tuesday morning, the congressman said the Minnesota governor and a Democratic colleague from Wisconsin are part of the “outside agitators” going to Republican districts to “muck rake.”
“Failed VP candidate and wildly unpopular Gov of MN, @GovTimWalz and the despicable @MarkPocan are sauntering over today to do just that in #WI03 today,” Van Orden said.
A statement from Schimel’s judicial campaign called Walz a “leftist” governor and failed vice presidential candidate who “is now propping up dangerous Susan Crawford in an attempt to dismantle our state the same way he ruined Minnesota.”
Tim Walz says pushing back against Trump, Musk starts with Wisconsin Supreme Court election was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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