Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz slams Elon Musk in Wisconsin town hall as he keeps up his national profile

Eau Claire, Wis. — Standing in front of a crowded theater, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz explained his new mood booster. Every day, he told the western Wisconsin audience, he checks the stock price for Tesla, the electric vehicle company owned by Trump adviser Elon Musk.

“I’m not a vindictive person or anything but I take great pleasure in the fact that this guy’s life is going to get very, very difficult,” Walz said of Musk, whose company has seen its stock price drop as he continues his effort to slash federal spending with the help of his Department of Government Efficiency.

Walz was in the battleground district of second-term Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden on Tuesday for a town hall-style event, but the conversation regularly veered back to Musk, who has poured millions into backing a conservative judge in a high-profile race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

As the former vice presidential nominee leaves the door open to a possible national run in the future, Walz has positioned himself as a foil to Musk.

“I think there’s something poetic about a schoolteacher being in this fight against the richest man in the world who’s trying to undermine an election in Wisconsin,” Walz said in an interview before the town hall began.

The Supreme Court race has become a proxy for the national battle between Democrats, Musk and the administration of Donald Trump. Musk is backing Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel in the race, while Democrats are supporting Dane County Judge Susan Crawford.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said it’s the only statewide election until November where Democrats can send a message.

“Republicans think Musk is a force field,” Wikler said. “When Susan Crawford wins this race, that force field disappears.”

Part listening session, part political rally, the Eau Claire stop is Walz’s third visit to Republican districts where members have stopped holding in-person town halls.

Van Orden has been critical of the people showing up to town halls in recent weeks, saying on social media there’s “nothing organic about the agitators running around the country disrupting Republican events.”

He also criticized Walz, who he said “has abandoned his state to crime, high taxes and radical spending and is trying to Minnesota our Wisconsin.”

“It appears he has forgotten what happened in November when Wisconsinites rejected him at the voting booth,” Van Orden said.

He’s also faced criticism back home from Republicans, who said Walz should be in Minnesota working with legislators to start sketching out how to tackle a looming $6 billion budget deficit.

“We have problems in the state and for him to be running away from those problems is really discouraging,” said Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson. “For him to really abscond from the state is tough to work with.”

Walz has left the door open for a possible run for president in 2028, and he’s said he will decide by summer whether he wants to seek a historic third consecutive term as governor in Minnesota. In the meantime, he’s traveled across the country to speak to Democratic groups.

He’s told voters he doesn’t have all the answers and takes responsibility as “part of a team” that lost the 2024 election to Trump.

“I’m not going to whistle past the graveyard and tell you things are fine,” Walz told the crowd. “I’m also having the most unsatisfactory ‘I told you so’ tour in the history of the world.”

The town halls have given Walz more opportunities to criticize Musk, whom he called an “unelected nepo baby.” Musk has threatened to sue Walz after he said Musk performed a Nazi salute following Trump’s inauguration.

At the event, hosted by the Wisconsin Democratic Party, Walz fielded friendly questions from the audience. Several people said they were afraid they could lose their health care coverage. One attendee said they knew someone who had been fired in rounds of federal layoffs led by DOGE.

People in the audience sported Harris-Walz camo hats from the 2024 campaign trail and held up signs that said “Stop Musk.” Someone shouted out “they’re so weird,” calling up Walz’s criticism of Republicans during the presidential race.

At the end of the event, Walz invited the crowd to shout out their ideas to improve the Democratic Party. He’s tried to position himself as a national voice in his party responding to the Trump administration.

Barbara Kass, who lives in Eau Claire, was one of the first people in line who came to see Walz. She was also hoping for answers about where the Democratic Party is heading.

“My feeling is the Democrats always have great ideas but they seem to have difficulty in executing things. I think Tim has the enthusiasm to encourage people.”