Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee, suggested Tuesday night that the Electoral College should be abolished during two West Coast campaign stops.
Walz mentioned the concept during fundraisers in Seattle and in Sacramento, Calif., while talking to donors in the deep blue areas.
“And we know, because of our system of the Electoral College, that puts a few states in real focus,” Walz said in Seattle. “I’m a national popular vote guy, but that’s not the world we live in.”
In Sacramento later in the day, he was talking about the pivotal battleground states that will decide this election and said the Electoral College should end.
“I think all of us know, the Electoral College needs to go. We need a — we need national popular vote,” he said. “But that’s not the world we live in. So, we need to win Beaver County, Pa. We need to be able to go into York, Pa., and win. We need to be in western Wisconsin and win. We need to be in Reno, Nev., and win. And the help that you give here today helps make that happen.”
Trump’s campaign responded on the social platform X, suggesting Walz’s remarks show he hates the U.S. Constitution.
“Why does Tampon Tim hate the Constitution so much? He hates the First Amendment. He hates the Supreme Court. He hates the Electoral College,” the campaign said, using a derisive nickname for the Minnesotan that refers to school policies on providing tampons in bathrooms.
Walz has expressed interest in ending the voting system and turning to using the popular vote in the past. He signed legislation as governor last year to add Minnesota to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would mean states award their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote, The New York Times reported.
In two of the last five presidential elections, 2000 and 2016, Democrats have won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College and the presidency. There’s a chance that could happen again in this cycle, with some polls showing a tight race for the Electoral College but Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, up a few points nationally.
After 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in the popular vote but lost the Electoral College, she called for ending the Electoral College.