[laughs]

He also has one in there where he criticizes getting questioned about this 'cause he got called a socialist.

He said, "Call me any dang thing you want.

Alls I want you to do is pick up the other end of this crosscut saw and let's start sawing the logs of inequity and in poverty," things like that.

I think the Democratic Party needs to pick up the other end of the crosscut saw and tackle inequities, healthcare, those types of things, and, and quit trying to say this is a, an internal fight on that.

Because the fact of the matter is, I've said this often, I wanna make Minnesota the best place to raise a family.

That means you're gonna have programs like paid family leave and free school lunches.

Like that's-

So what are the things that you really have learned?

Well, I think the biggest thing is don't assume you know about someone, and it's a lesson you should take to all life.

And I tell this story because I met a young man named Clay Hunt.

He was a sniper, spent time in Iraq where he was shot, healed up, went back, went to Afghanistan, again, performed Silver Star, performed admirably.

He came back home and was working to reduce veteran suicides and make sure the care was getting there.

This kid was from Texas, 6'4".

He was central casting that you would see.

One, what's your message to the next organization or the next administration that comes in and assumes the office of governor? And then what are you going to do when you leave?

W- what'd you make of that whole conversation about what a coach or a football coach specifically could be?

Yeah, a coach is a teacher, and, and the best teachers make great coaches, and I see them.

And I think this idea, especially in high school and youth sports, it's about getting kids involved.

And as I worked on the play with my wife, um, I would do, you know, uh, judge speech and debate.

Anything that gets a kid involved being part of the community, I want to be part of.

I personally like football, but this idea, you know, that it's like, you know, the Jesse Watters of the world, that you gotta be hyper-masculine and do all this or whatever, my thing is, is making kids safe, feel part of something, and making their lives a little better.

And the two go hand in hand.

How many times have you replayed various scenes from the 2024 campaign?

What is your reaction to the fact that the President of the United States traded 3,700 times in quarter one of 2026 in the stock market?

Yeah, it's, it...

Well, first of all, thanks for having me, Aaron, and thanks for covering this.

Look, I, I go way back with this.

I was one of the original authors with Brian Baird from Washington State of the STOCK Act.

The idea that there's insider trading in members of Congress.

A study had been done in the early 2000s that members of Congress outpaced the stock market, uh, you know, in winnings, uh, far outpaced the average person.

I- is that something Democrats should look at with this president?

Are those enough to stay ahead of the fraudsters?

I don't think you ever totally stay ahead of them.

I do think some of the prepayment review, I, I can't stress enough this idea, 'cause li- your listeners would be appalled by this.

Until this legislation that just came to me this week, um, we had people who had committed fraud in a program, say, dealing with autism.

They were under active investigation or indictment.

They were also then engaged in may- maybe a housing program.

I think everybody's like, "Geez, use some common sense.

Uh, what's, what's your-

What is the antidote?

Yeah.

Well, I was being kind, I think, in that moment.

Prime Minister Sanchez in Spain gathered global progressive leaders.

President Lula from Brazil was there, South African president and so many leaders.

And the argument was, is the antidote is to recognize that progressive policies that lift people out of poverty and bring dignity to all human beings are is a global issue, especially as we see authoritarianism creeping across the globe.

And I think being unified in this with an understanding in Europe, in sub-Saharan Africa, in Latin America, that we used to be a solid partner, we being the United States.

So how do you make that translation work?

How, how are people recovering?

It's horrific.

There was a story in today's paper in the Minneapolis StarTribune, a gentleman missed his chemotherapy.

Now he's in hospice.

They killed him.

They are ve- that is going to kill this gentleman, and there are hundreds and hundreds of stories of all this disruption.

Um, they are still waging more on us.

You know, there's some, there's some talk about how they were, they were briefly taken off the job, but for all we know, they're back out there now.

Yeah.

And I, I remind people that we told the Department of Agriculture, and they didn't do anything.

But I, I'll own this.

What's changed is, is we have pre-approvals.

We have things in place.

But again, as you see this, they are not interested in stopping the fraud.

They're interested in taking away meals from kids.

Have you considered running for governor of California?

What, what should accountability for Kristi Noem, given everything she's done, look like in your view?

view?Well, uh, th- and there needs to be, and I think that that's one of our founding principles, that no one's above the law and they're accountable.

I, I would just say at this time that, uh, that former Secretary Noem should probably get used to spending more time in Minnesota because it's...

I, I have a pretty good feeling in the future she may be doing that, because we have got to get accountability.

Uh, we need to know the people who are involved in this, and, and the ones that were caught on tape, and the, the brave Minnesotans.

And again, they're out of Minnesota because Minnesotans took to the streets, and it turns out they like their constitutional rights.

They like to protect their neighbors' human rights, and that's what Minnesotans did.

When you say she should, she should expect to spend some time, more time in Minnesota, what do you mean by that? Tell people watching what you mean by that.

... you just heard the president say, you know, "No pullback." How do you lead your state, to lead the people here in Minnesota, when you don't know what's coming next? You don't know what direction they're gonna turn.

Yeah.

Well, I think you stay grounded in our values.

We stay grounded in, um, caring for our neighbors.

We stay grounded in that justice matters.

We stay grounded in, uh, staying peaceful in, in the face of this and grounded in encouraging people to continue to take pictures, dictate what was here.

And, and I said it, and I don't even think the president himself would disagree with this, uh, they have not changed their goal of mass deportations.

Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote a letter last week, and she criticized you personally for calling federal law enforcement, and I'm quoting here, "Trump's modern-day Gestapo." How do you respond to her accusation that your rhetoric and remarks from other state officials aren't doing enough, in her words-- these are her words, "to support the men and women who are risking their lives to protect Americans and uphold the rule of law?"

Did you see what Peg- Pete Hegseth wrote on Twitter, where he said, "ICE is greater than Minnesota," or, "ICE," you know, "above Minnesota?" I'm wondering what your reaction to that kind of messaging-

He, he's a Minnesotan for your, you know, listeners on this, uh, and I...

Not that I would talk about that often, but it's despicable.

It, it is absolutely despicable.

Nothing on there, again, about the families, nothing about what's going, and this untrained force that anybody to the casual observer knows these folks don't know what they're doing.

The great example is, is they had control of the, the Whipple Building, the federal building.

That's the place where they stage, 'cause they're not gonna use state property, and every day it was a confrontation.

Well, what's the logical endpoint of this, of this kind of vendetta and also of this kind of open hostility against blue states, blue communities? I mean, do you, do you worry about a kind of civil war scenario in this country?

Does it make you feel differently about your conversation with him?

No, I think I knew it.

Yes, it makes me angrier that I kn- I know we have to...

Look, I know why the president called and saw this.

He didn't call because...

I talked to the White House.

I talked to Tom Holman.

What does accountability look like to you?

So how, how do you deal with that? I think the American people, when you see-

That was, that was well, that was well said, Ben, and now I'm feeling stressed again because you're right about all those things.

Uh, look, this is one that I don't think as a society we've come to grips with yet, this post-truth society.

Um, you've seen it.

I, I, you see you every day pop up on my TikTok, except the last three days.

Something's up with TikTok.

I keep hearing about it, and anything political is being stifled.

But is, is that guy gone?

Having spoken to law enforcement and some people on the ground and what they're seeing, Can you describe the ways in which it is actually day to day making life in the Twin Cities less safe to have ICE acting in this way?

Yeah, not just in their actions, reckless driving and the things that they're doing.

This is about trust.

It's about having folks.

There are folks that would report an accident, would report a crime and know that the police are going to come in.

They go there.

They throw these chemical munitions.

Is there anything along the way, as advice for other governors or other mayors who may face this? Yeah, you

So where, where do we go from here, Governor?

Yeah.

And look, when we know that, and, and Minnesota's is going through it, and the world's seen that, but I think also Minnesotans are showing the side of us that, that we're resolved and we're not goin' anywhere.

Um, with that being said, um, the White House, I wish it was because of the moral outrage of the murder of Alex and Rene and the, you know, Liam, the little boy, and everything else that they traumatized to our state, but my guess is it probably has more to do with dropping poll numbers.

But either way, they get to that place.

What I will say that I feel, you know, skeptically optimistic, if there's a term there, I'm a little bit cautious on it, that Tom Homan landed last night and he was in my office this morning, you know, at 9:00.

Uh, I never met Greg Rubino.

...and- and how- however are they hanging in there? Or just- I just, you know-

Can you talk a little bit about what that-- what took place during that conversation?

Certainly, and again, thanks for having us.

Minnesotans have been through it, but I think the, the country has seen it.

Uh, we're pretty resilient people, and, uh, I think it's pretty clear that the President was having that conversation because of the thousands of Minnesotans who were on the streets and because of the murder of Renee and Alex.

Uh, it started out with the president, you know, said that we, we gotta-- we can't go on like this, which he characterized it that we're on the same wavelength.

If we were, it's the agreement that this has got to stop.

Now, I hope his end state is the same as my end state, which is removing these ICE agents and border patrol in this occupation of Minnesota, allowing us to investigate the folks who, uh, potentially, I think, a jury may find murdered, um, two of my citizens.

Yeah

Uh, first of all, the meeting with Tom Homan, how did that go? What are your thoughts on it?

Well, Tom Homan's a professional, uh, which I... is a lot more than Bovino and, uh, and Kristi Noem.

But look, I, I think the thing we said is, we're very clear about this, that we need these folks out of Minnesota, and, uh, and we need, uh, we need justice for Renee Good and for Alex.

And, uh, those were, those were things that we came with.

I think the thing that I'm most concerned about is the tone was different.

There was a tone shift.

I wish it was because of the horrific, you know, shooting, that somebody saw some morality, but I think it's probably the press.

Oh.

I'm wondering if you think that's a satisfactory change for starters, and when you meet with him, what, what you're going to ask him about?

Well, look, I'm, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

And Tim, I think you recognize this, and I've heard you.

I think you have the vibe, if you will, of, of this one on this.

This White House makes decisions based on emotions and non-reality that we're living in.

I am in a position right now where I want to be very careful to, uh, uh, continue to stand up, and we won't give an inch, but not to poke the bear.

We don't need it.

Wondering if you agree with that, and, and what the phone call was like?

What an honor to meet you.

Hope and I are big fans.

We love it.

Uh, thanks for promoting, uh, such a great thing as running.

Right

clothing.

Too cold.

One thermal.

The seriously blank governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing either through fear, incompetence, or both." What is your response to President Trump, Governor?

Yeah.

Well, first of all, let me express my condolences to the families of the, the National Guardsmen.

That's, uh... they're out there doing their duty.

They serve us.

Uh, as a commander-in-chief of the National Guard and someone who's served, um, we have a responsibility to put them in a position where they're protected and they have a clear mission.

And so I would, I would express, uh, my condolences there.

Do you take responsibility for failing to stop this fraud in your state?

(laughs)

So, I think, you know, you, you talk an- and I think it's about managing risk.

And I think there's a risk averseness in these campaigns that I don't even say that as a pejorative, but the route to take less risky...

And I think in an extra central race like we saw, because I was convinced...

I keep telling this story, Molly.

I didn't know this, but we did an off-the-record stop in Southern Georgia, and I was on the bus with, uh, the vice president.

And we're driving down small rural roads, and there's little girls, little Black girls out there with signs, hand-painted signs that said, "Kamala." And it wa- you know, I'm like, "Oh." And we stopped at this school.

Tell me why.

How bad is the crunch right now for those farmers?

Yeah, bad, Chris, and as Mr. Bartman on there said, and Illinois is our leading producer, but Minnesota's a top four state.

Look, every, uh, every two out of three rows of soybeans we do export markets, and China is a major, uh, a major buyer of those.

Uh, last year they bought 12 billion from us, this year they're buying zero.

And- and this is a manmade crisis.

The farm crisis ri- I think it rivals the 1980s.

We just, we had the Farm Aid concert out here with Willie Nelson, and- and they said it's the worst it's been in 40 years.

If you have a temporary disruption, you're like, "Oh, wow, I've got these suppliers in Argentina, I've got these suppliers in Brazil." The switch doesn't necessarily go back once, you know, the- the issue is resolved.

We got them here.

(laughs) Yeah.

Well, right.

It's one of the most, uh, outrageous of fronts on this.

This is North Korea style stuff.

And, and it's being done because this is a weak, thin-skinned man who's failing as a president.

All of the things he promised are not happening, and this is exactly what dictators do.

(laughs)

in terms of how you're going to approach pushing back if you win a third term, what does that look like? 'Cause we've seen that works.

Yeah, I think most people are seeing this.

It, it's servant leadership.

This is a moment.

The, the people who walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with, you know, with John Lewis.

The, the folks who you don't know their names, but they were there resisting some of the things we've seen in the past.

And I think right now, I've got the experience, I... we've been able to do things together in Minnesota that have improved lives.

How does it feel watching back that clip and, and know that that, that didn't hit with the public as the way it should have?

I think you were 20.

Yeah, I think as a little brother was eight, I think I was 19, somewhere around eight, but they've been sick for a while.

You and I talked about this, you, you know what this is and look, my, I'm very proud of my parents.

My, uh, my dad's family were German immigrants.

They ran a meat locker and came in Nebraska.

He was the first generation to go to college.

Uh, before he did that, he served for a couple of years in the army during Korean war era.

As you look back, what were some of your favorite moments and what are some things that you think if you could, you would have done differently?