Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore at a Friday night fish fry in South Carolina sought to fire up Democrats and sounded like national candidates for the 2028 presidential election in doing so, reports the New York Times.
Walz, the 2024 vice presidential nominee, told the crowd it was maybe “time for us to be a little meaner.”
“When it’s a bully like Donald Trump, you bully the s—- out of him. … This is a … cruel man.”
Moore, who according to the Times received warm and attentive reception, said “gone are the days when the Democrats are the party of ‘no’ and ‘slow.’ We must be the party of ‘yes’ and ‘now.'”
His comment on the government “banning books about our history because they know if you know your history, you know your power,” was well received.
“I know my power, and that is why I know every room that I’m in, I’m not there because of someone’s benevolence.
“I’m in that room,” he added, “because I belong there.”
Both also spoke at a Democratic state convention in South Carolina.
The events offered an opportunity for both to test out their messages in front of hundreds of Democrats in the state that has long held the first-in-the-South Democratic presidential primary and, last year, led off the party’s nominating calendar entirely.
State party chair Christale Spain has said that she will renew the argument to keep the state’s No. 1 position in the next cycle, but national party organizations haven’t settled their 2028 calendars yet, and party officials in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada are also vying to go first.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.