The Minnesota governor unleashed harsh language during appearances this weekend, in the clearest signs yet that he is weighing a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz harshly critiqued the Democratic Party and its failure to connect with the working class in coast-to-coast appearances on Saturday, warning in a speech here in California that the party is at risk of becoming “roadkill” after its steep losses in the 2024 elections.

In one of the clearest signs yet that he is seriously weighing a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 after serving as Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024, Walz spent the morning addressing Democrats in the early primary state of South Carolina before dashing across the country to close out a gathering of state party delegates in Anaheim.

Walz acknowledged that his prominent role as the vice-presidential nominee during last year’s election put him in an awkward position to suggest revamping the party’s message. But on Saturday, he argued that his party has “strayed from our North Star” as a champion for the working class. Democrats needed to “be honest” about their failings because the 2024 loss of the White House and both houses of Congress has created major consequences for the most vulnerable people in the country.

During both appearances, he encouraged Democrats to match President Donald Trump’s tough tactics and worry less about offending people. While he hails from a state known for “Minnesota nice,” he argued that Trump is motivated by “cruelty and corruption” and that the GOP’s proposed cuts to health care, education and food assistance programs warrant a new approach.

“Maybe it’s time for us to be a little meaner,” Walz said during an appearance in Columbia, South Carolina. “When it’s a bully like Donald Trump, you bully the s--- out of him.”

Later in the day after he flew cross-country to California, he said that the Democratic Party “used to be the party that had the courage to do the big, bold stuff,” citing several historic accomplishments like the creation of the Social Security program. While the party has good ideas, Walz said, leaders, once they’re elected, “incrementally change things and we don’t do the big stuff.”

Democrats talk about important issues, Walz said, but average people don’t see tangible changes in their lives: “The voters come away thinking we’re either incapable of getting big things done, or we truly don’t care, and we’re just talking about it for votes.”

The Minnesota governor cited a recent New York Times article about the Democratic Party’s examination of its losses, where a Georgia voter was quoted describing the party as “a deer in headlights” — an animal that stands in the path of an oncoming car and doesn’t move even though it’s going to get hit. That view, he warned, presents an “existential threat” for Democrats.

“There is an appetite out there across this country to govern with courage and competency, to call crap where it is, not be afraid to make a mistake about things, but to show people who you truly are and that they don’t have to wonder who the Democratic Party is,” Walz said.

He argued that people who are showing up at town halls in recent months to protest GOP policies aren’t choosing between the politics of the left and the right, but are instead judging politicians by their willingness to stand up and fight.

“They don’t want to see us standing like a deer in the goddamn headlines, and there’s a good reason for that,” Walz said in Anaheim. “Nobody votes for roadkill.”

Walz’s strong language echoes some of the criticisms of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is accusing Democrats, including Walz’s running mate, of not doing enough to serve working-class voters.

Earlier on Saturday, Walz touched on similar themes in a 50-minute speech before roughly 1,000 South Carolina Democrats at the state party’s annual convention in Columbia — noting Democrats’ need to compete more forcefully in Republican-leaning states.

Walz’s keynote speech at the convention in South Carolina came after back-to-back appearances Friday night at the state party’s annual Blue Palmetto Dinner, where Maryland Gov. Wes Moore — another potential 2028 presidential contender — was the headliner, and an annual fish fry hosted by Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.).

“I called it my 90-day ‘Eras Tour’ to seven states. I went to the same seven damn states over and over and over,” Walz said of his 2024 experience at the fish fry, prompting laughs and cheers from some in the crowd as he referenced superstar Taylor Swift’s recent concert tour.

“You know what? People are pissed off in South Carolina, they’re pissed off in Texas, they’re pissed off in Indiana,” Walz added. “And there’s more of us than there are of the billionaires. So we need to change the attitude, compete in every district, compete for every school board seat.”