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Minnesota Democratic Governor and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz called for terminating the Electoral College during a fundraising event, leading to strong pushback from Trump campaign leaders.
While speaking to donors at California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s private residence, Walz reportedly said, “I think all of us know the Electoral College needs to go.”
Walz continued, “We need a national popular vote, but that’s not the world we live in.”
In 2023, the two-term governor signed the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would allow states to give their electoral votes to the candidate who won the popular vote. However, the compact would only be valid if its supporters secured pledges from states with a minimum of 270 electoral votes.
Following the news of Walz’s remarks, a Kamala Harris campaign official told USA TODAY that doing away with the Electoral College was not an official position of the Harris campaign.
President Donald Trump’s campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt blasted Walz for his comments in a post on X.
“Is Tampon Tim laying the groundwork to claim President Trump’s victory is illegitimate?” she asked.
Breitbart News reported that Walz made similar remarks during a fundraiser in Seattle earlier in the day. The outlet’s Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak said that switching to a popular vote would give more power to large blue states, especially in California where unlimited ballot harvesting is legal.
Turning Point USA Founder and CEO Charlie Kirk added Walz’s comments to his running list of the Harris campaign’s radical agenda.
In a post on X, Kirk wrote, “BREAKING: Tim Walz calls for eliminating the Electoral College while fundraising at Gavin Newsom’s Sacramento private residence. ‘I think all of us know the electoral college needs to go.’”
Kirk continued, writing,
“Add it to the list:
– Packing the Supreme Court
– Adding Puerto Rico and DC as states
– Shredding the Freedom of Speech
– Destroying 2A with “mandatory” gun confiscation
– Eliminating the benefits of US citizenship
– Abolishing the Senate filibuster And more…
The party of ‘protecting democracy’ despises America’s constitutional republic.”
Congress would be required to amend the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College, which is highly unlikely, according to Politico.