Republican strategist Scott Jennings said during a panel discussion on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that one potential 2028 Democratic candidate would not be the party’s future.
Democratic Govs. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Wes Moore of Maryland spoke Friday at an event hosted by Democratic South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, according to the New York Times. Jennings, speaking on CNN, expressed doubt about the chances of Walz, who was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2024, to lead the party.
“The other person who spoke in South Carolina, Tim Walz, is a special mixture of extreme buffoonery and a mean spirit, which is a toxic brew,” Jennings said. “He is not the future of the Democratic Party.”
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“I’ll defend the Democrats. They are for things,” the strategist added. “Illegal aliens, you’re for boys in girls sports. I mean, you are for things and that’s why you have such struggles right now in your party, because you‘re not for anything that‘s on the right side of any of the 8020 issues that are driving this cultural divide in America.”
Jennings also said that he thinks Moore “is actually a pretty talented communicator.”
“Moore is interesting. Moore is interesting,” Jennings continued. “Probably more interesting than some of the radicals you have out there. [Democratic Rep. Jasmine] Crockett [of Texas], AOC [Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York], I mean, these are the true leaders of your party right now, but it might be better off replacing them.”
During his speech at the Clyburn fish fry Friday, Walz called on Democrats to “bully the sh**” out of President Donald Trump and that Democrats needed to be “a little meaner.”
“Maybe it’s time for us to be a little meaner. Maybe it’s time for us to be a little more fierce, because we have to ferociously push back on this,” Walz said. “And again, I’ll speak to my teacher colleagues in here. The thing that bothers a teacher more than anything is to watch a bully, to watch this bully and to stop it. And when it’s a child, you talk to them and you tell them why bullying is wrong. But when it’s [an] adult like Donald Trump, you bully the sh** out of him.”
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Tampon @Tim_Walz – trying to look tough – calls on Democrats to “ferociously push back” and “bully the sh*t out of” President Trump. pic.twitter.com/t3ZMgbqOVg
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 31, 2025
Walz previously joked he was tracking Tesla stock and that its decline gave him “a little boost” during an event in March. Walz was also widely credited with starting the trend of labeling then-Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate in the 2024 election and now his Vice President, as “weird” during a July 23 appearance on “Morning Joe,” according to multiple reports.
WATCH: Tim Walz urges folks to ‘bully the sh-t out of’ Trump
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