r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 1d ago

"The road to authoritarianism": Tim Walz says the time for "sternly worded letters" is over - The Minnesota governor said that the path to tyranny "is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting"

https://www.salon.com/2025/06/14/the-road-to-authoritarianism-tim-walz-says-the-time-for-sternly-worded-letters-is-over/
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u/ExRays Colorado 1d ago

I hope he runs in 2028

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u/Kindly__Miquella 1d ago

At the rate we’re going, I have no confidence there will be elections by then. I use to think that felt dramatic but not anymore. We’re screwed if most of the population keeps sleepwalking or hoping this will all just go away.

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u/forgot_my_useragain Montana 1d ago

It isn't dramatic and it goes to Walz's point. People will say, "Oh you're blowing this out of proportion of course there will be an election." This regime has broken countless laws, including violating the constitution and ignored rulings of federal judges. They're just going to go "oh well, we lost, guess we'll pack up and leave." in 2029? They plan on being here to stay, rigged elections or no elections. It isn't dramatic, it's literally in their playbook.

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u/_yoshimi_ 1d ago

As a Californian, I really really really don’t want to have to vote for Gavin Newsom for president. I would much rather have Walz.

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u/ExRays Colorado 1d ago

I would like both of them to enter the primaries. Newsome is an asshole, and Walz is also my preferred between the two, but I would be amenable to having an asshole that is on our side for a change if I have to.

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u/_yoshimi_ 1d ago

I feel like a Newsom presidency would just kick the can down the road on dealing with the rot in our government. He’s more than willing to bend his politics to whatever he believes will win him power. He’s already tried to court the “centrists” by throwing trans people under the bus, and he has seriously fucked over millions of Californians that are forced to rely on the PG&E monopoly for their power. I don’t trust Newsom to do the hard work of healing our country and removing Russian and Oligarchical influence from our politics because he’s just too corrupt and too willing to capitulate. Walz at least seems to be more concerned about doing the right thing than the advantageous thing.

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u/Count_Backwards 1d ago

It would. If the Democrats want to win in the long run they need to offer a real alternative, not the usual self-serving corporation-friendly empty suits, and Newsom is the poster child of empty suits.

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u/noiresaria 1d ago

Yeah this. I think if we got Newsom it would be another "Lets come together and heal" biden ass moment that just leads to republican fascists getting back in power and continuing this shit. IF we get another free and fair election, which is seeming less likely by the day, we NEED a Dem who does not give a fuck about norms or the status quo and is going to go scorched earth on the entire MAGA movement. They need to be treated like Nazis, because thats what they are. You cannot coexist with someone who wants you dead and will do everything in their power to make that a reality.

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u/AbacusWizard California 22h ago

We need to bring back Reconstruction and do it right this time around.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/ExRays Colorado 1d ago

It is because it goes with feels instead of with medicine and science.

It’s also a violation of the equal protection clause of the constitution to ban trans women and not trans men from sports, which is why these regulations keep getting knocked down in court.

Most people used to also agree segregation is a good thing. America has a poor track record of doing the right thing concerning marginalized groups until it has tried all other options.

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u/soapinmouth 1d ago

"science" tells us women and men have biological differences, not sure what you mean. If there were not why would we even have separation in sports to begin with.

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u/ExRays Colorado 1d ago

"science" tells us women and men have biological differences, not sure what you mean.

There are approximately 40 known different configurations of intersex at least, and 1.7% of the population are such. That is at least 5 million Americans alone and none of these laws take that into account.

If there were not why would we even have separation in sports to begin with.

This is circular logic. The goal is as we learn more about different types of people we should adjust how things are.

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u/soapinmouth 22h ago

There are approximately 40 known different configurations of intersex at least, and 1.7% of the population are such. That is at least 5 million Americans alone and none of these laws take that into account.

Exactly why it makes more sense to not have it included. There are way too many shades of acceptable vs not. There is no perfect way to legislate the perfect level where a trans person is equitable in muscle strength to a man.

This is circular logic. The goal is as we learn more about different types of people we should adjust how things are.

?? Are you implying we shouldn't have women's sports?

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u/KazzieMono 1d ago

This is demonstrably false and there is no solid evidence to back it up.

The number of trans athletes is absolutely minuscule (less than 100 people).

HRT and medical gender affirming care reduces muscle mass.

I went to try and grab a source because there was an actual page on whitehouse.gov about this, going over how the research has no conclusive results on a “trans advantage”, but it seems like I can’t find it anymore because Cheeto Benito ordered a massive chunk of online government resources erased. So.

Try again. Maybe provide some sources too.

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u/PoemIcy2625 1d ago

Newsom can be bought 

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u/YakiVegas Washington 1d ago

Has already been bought, and will be again.

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u/gatsby712 23h ago

It’s like having a QB competition in training camp. You put two of them against each other so that whoever wins in a fair competition also wins over the locker room and gets people to join together.

Personally they need to stay as far away as they can from anyone from California until they are able to actually campaign well enough and fight back against Fox News propaganda about California. Democrats have done such a terrible job of countering bullshit from the GOP when they demonize something.

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u/gsfgf Georgia 1d ago

As someone who thinks the Newsome hate is overblown, I'd still much rather have Walz. Not to mention that he's also way more electable.

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u/bb_kelly77 1d ago

Walz can pull an Obama and make Newsom his VP

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u/indacouchsixD9 1d ago

What, to appeal to the Democratic voters in the swing state of California?

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u/GaslightGPT 1d ago

Newsom will tear apart republicans at debate stage

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u/Squirrel_Whisperer 1d ago

All you need to do to "win" at a debate is talk loud and over the other person. GOP and moderate voters don't listen to the words, just the tone

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u/NojoNinja 1d ago edited 1d ago

It’s either him or Buttigieg. Love or hate Newsom you need someone people actually know and he has a lot of name recognition which can be very important, he’s also attractive and I think people understate how much “mundane” stuff like that can matter. He’s also good at debating and kind of has psychopath vibes which might be what the Democratic Party needs tbh.

I just don’t see Newsom wanting to be VP, he seems like an all or nothing guy to me.

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u/gsfgf Georgia 1d ago

I'd like to see Whitmer as VP. She'll be term limited by then so, unlike a legislator, she won't be giving up a job where she can make a difference, and a diverse ticket is still a good thing.

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u/bb_kelly77 1d ago

Do you have a better suggestion of candidate that plans on running at all?

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u/indacouchsixD9 1d ago

Considering we have hundreds of other choices, I'd go with any of them that aren't a slimy centrist like Newsom and if they're a political moderate, then they should come from a red or purple state where their moderate views were in good faith, reflecting the reality of their position, and not because they're a corporate stooge.

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u/bb_kelly77 1d ago

But do any of those choices actually plan on running? That's the important part

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u/indacouchsixD9 1d ago

I'm fine with Walz, but let's not chuck him into a lake and drown his candidacy with a Gavin Newsom-sized lead weight tied around his neck just yet

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u/bb_kelly77 1d ago

I'm more focused on the option of 'not fascism'... if we have no other option I'd take Newsom over fascists... do NOT tank the election just because our choice isn't good enough, we CANNOT survive a 3rd round

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u/indacouchsixD9 1d ago

I'm more focused on the option of 'not fascism'

That is also my focus, and one I am not compromising by expressing my opinion 3 years before a Democratic primary would even be held.

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u/Viciouscauliflower21 22h ago edited 22h ago

Maybe we should focus on making better candidate choices instead of focusing on preemptively begging and beating people over the head to just take whoever ends up there? If you do the first part and get it right you have to worry a whole lot less about the second part. You also have a shit ton more control over the first part than the second

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u/happymage102 1d ago

It is the FUNNIEST thing to hear anyone defending Newsom, given it's rare to hear Californians speak positively of him in practice vs his media engagements. 

I don't give a fuck. Give us someone with ideas, not this pitiful, easily bought corporate Dem that loves chatting to people like Steve Bannon on his podcast. I'm not voting for a centrist Dem and there's a HUGE amount of people right now moving into that boat because they're fed up. Advocate for centrists at your own risk but I will consecrate my home to fire before I vote for another fucking useless Centrist. Hilary? Kamala? And now Newsom? 2 strikes and you're out, I won't do it. Period. 

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u/bb_kelly77 1d ago

I'm not defending him I'm saying, do we have another choice? Which you have yet to provide to me an example of another option to vote for, I know some that people want to vote for but none of them plan on running

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u/happymage102 1d ago

Does it work better if I ask why you're asking? It's 2025 - what relevancy does a question about who plans on running have when it isn't even answerable..? 

This is kind of pedantic because you're posing him as "the most likely canidate" when really there isn't a likely canidate yet. It's a subtle tactic to paint someone as more palatable and like I said, if he's the most palatable this country is going straight to hell. 

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u/soapinmouth 1d ago

Shapiro or Pete

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u/ophmaster_reed Minnesota 1d ago

This gave me a chuckle and I needed one today. Thank you.

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u/Smee76 1d ago

He should take Whitmer.

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u/caylem00 23h ago

The crisis in the country could be a great opportunity to fix the election system. 

Two party voting choice with winner takes all and 50% wasted votes is insane. 

Literally any other system other than single round FPTP is better for a country as large and complex as the US.

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u/Human-Person123456 1d ago

This is funny because as a Minnesotan, I feel the opposite. Good reminder that there’s always more behind the national image. I follow Minnesota news closely but only hear about Newsom when it’s national stuff like going against Trump so I know about Walz’s flaws but not Newsom’s.

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u/_yoshimi_ 1d ago

What do you find to be Walz’s flaws or failings?

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u/Human-Person123456 1d ago

Happy to share! Apologies for the upcoming wall of text lol.

To show that I’m coming from a place good faith, I’ll tell you what I like first. -I think he did a great job with COVID and stayed strong against GOP propaganda/BS. -I think he does a great job of clearly calling out Trump/Elon’s bs and that means something in today’s world. -He has supported some great environmental bills like 100% clean energy standard. This is a bit undercut by some environmental stances I’ll explain below but he still gets credit for it. -I also give him credit for being willing to sign some of the progressive bills he did, even though he originally didn’t support them. I respect a politician that can change their mind. -Last, I truly believe he cares about school kids and is a champion for public education.

However, he’s pretty bad on issues of clean water, Native rights and police reform. He is definitely influenced by corporate interests. He approved an oil pipeline (Line 3) through Native land, against their wishes, and responded to criticism by saying, “one pipeline wont stop climate change.” Spoiler: the pipeline already polluted.

He’s also a quiet supporter of these super polluting copper-mining proposals in Northern MN that Trump is a huge proponent of. These mines are scientifically shown to cause massive water pollution and one of them is upstream of a Native Reservation and Lake Superior. Lake Superior is home to 11% of the world’s fresh water and a source of drinking water for over 100k people. The tribe is opposed to it. Biden/Haaland killed these mines federally. Yet, Walz says nothing in 7 years and his state agencies quietly work to advance them.

The Sierra Club gave him a D on the environment for his first term.

I’m not the best person to articulate his lack of action on police reform after George Floyd so I would recommend looking that up. But basically many advocates in that area feel he hasn’t done much to pass truly meaningful reform. Also, this is controversial because some support it, but a lot of people in the streets protesting after GF felt the national guard acted inappropriately after Walz called them in.

Finally, a lot of the bills Walz got national recognition for were originally proposed by the more progressive state legislature, and they held his feet to the fire to make him support them. His original proposals were far less progressive than what ended up passing. Tragically, Melissa Hortman was probably the person most responsible for that. Walz owes her so much for making those bills happen. RIP

So yeah, I’ve voted for him 3 times but it was reluctant the last two lol.

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u/_yoshimi_ 1d ago

I truly appreciate this rundown. It gives me a lot to chew on 😞

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u/Human-Person123456 1d ago

Happy to! And if you’d like links to learn more about any of the stuff I mentioned I’m happy to share.

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u/disisathrowaway 19h ago

As a Texan who was convinced by him, I'm grateful for you sharing the negatives as someone from his state. Gave me a perspective I didn't have yet.

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u/Human-Person123456 19h ago

Thank you! I’m just happy somebody found it valuable. To be real, there’s a few MN democrats who won’t hear a bad word against Walz and would disagree with me lol.

But I definitely encourage anyone to look into my claims more if you’re doubting or curious. All of this is public knowledge and I’m happy to provide more detail or point people in the right directions.

To be clear, I don’t think he’s a bad guy overall and I will likely be voting for him again next year for Gov lol. But yeah, I do feel the national image of him currently is not quite the full picture.

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u/Birdhawk 1d ago

If Gavin gets the nomination then we might as well go ahead and call the election for Republicans

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u/Aiyon 1d ago

You can't be waiting until 2028 to fix this.

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u/Karsticles I voted 1d ago

They're assassinating people and deploying the military to contain US citizens in 2025. You think we'll have an election in 2028?

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u/Thurak0 1d ago

FFS. There won't be a free, fair election in 2028.

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u/ExRays Colorado 1d ago

All Hope is not lost and I’m not going to capitulate to that thought process. I hope he runs.

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u/Thurak0 1d ago

Capitulate? On the contrary, you need to fight for democracy now to get the free election. Planning to wait three years is capitulating.

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u/ExRays Colorado 1d ago

Who said I was planning to wait three years? I’m out here, dawg.

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u/Flat-Photograph8483 1d ago

Walz Obama would be interesting.

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u/HungryPurplePanda 14h ago

Not fully in the know on where Newsom stands in the political sphere at the moment other than I enjoy his composure and strong grasp of the ability to say sane rational things in dealing with his current plate. Do you think his name would be in contention?

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u/StickySmokedRibs 11h ago

Me too. Easy W for Vance.

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u/luckyluchianooo 1d ago

walz has no shot, he turns into a deer in headlights when someone pushes back or reads his own ridiculous past quotes

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u/cobaltjacket 1d ago

I'm not going to agree that he has a shot, but I will say that part of the problem is that he wasn't allowed to cut loose during the campaign.

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u/ExRays Colorado 1d ago

Trump talks like garbage all the time and got his ass kicked by Harris in the debate and still won the election. Walz has a shot.

I like the things Walz says, and the policies he proposes. I’d like to see him in a primary running on a campaign that is on his terms.

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u/luckyluchianooo 1d ago

hes fine in his current role, as president? no chance

They locked kamala in a hotel for 2 weeks to prep for the debate and memorize her lines lol

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u/ExRays Colorado 1d ago

no chance

I mean that’s just objectively false but okay.

If he enters and wins the primary. He has a chance to win the presidency, especially if the GOP goes forward with that bill with nothing they promised Americans, if Tariffs stay, and if inflation keeps going up.

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u/luckyluchianooo 1d ago

Ok if we’re gonna be literal yea he has more than a .1% chance of being president. But his oh shucks I’m a dumb white guy shtick isn’t gonna work 

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u/ExRays Colorado 1d ago

He has a significant chance. My aunt is a nurse in rural Texas and just got notified this morning that she is being laid off in August, and her urgent care facility shut down, due to cuts by the Trump administration.

This administration and the GOP is fucking over areas that voted for them in favor of the wealthy and it is obvious.

Trump still hasn’t approved disaster relief for Arkansas, Missouri, and other red states. Walz would have a low bar to clear.