Walz reveals the missteps he saw with Harris campaign amid postmortem media blitz

"We shouldn't have been playing this thing so safe," Walz told Politico in an interview published Saturday. 

He added: "I think we probably should have just rolled the dice and done the town halls, where (voters) may say, 'You're full of s---, I don't believe in you.' I think there could have been more of that."

The Trump-Vance ticket swept the battleground states on election night, catapulting them to victory with 312 electoral votes to Harris' 226. 

Walz argued that Democrats "are more cautious" in engaging with the media than Republicans, while adding that he felt as if the campaign was never ahead, comparing it to a "prevent defense" strategy during a football game. 

Walz took ownership for the party's loss in 2024, telling the outlet that "when you're on the ticket and you don't win, that's your responsibility." 

"He was underutilized and that was the symptom of the larger campaign of decision paralysis and decision logjam at the top," one former senior Harris aide told the outlet. "Could he have changed a percent in Wisconsin? Maybe. We still lose even if we win Wisconsin."

Walz was put "in a box," and "we didn't use him the way we could've," the aide added. 

"By the time they finally let him do anything at all, it's like 20 days left, and he's doing four states a day, and there's only so much you could do," another former staffer said of Walz. "It was too short."

The aides argued that Walz faced a steep battle ahead of his debate against then-Ohio Sen. JD Vance, remarking that he was "super nervous" and "in his own head" while preparing to face the Trump running mate on the stage. 

"It looked as if Vance was the conductor and Walz was following the script," longtime Democrtic strategist David Axelrod told Politico of the VP debate. "I don't think that was the reason they lost, but that was not helpful either."

"This was a guy who definitely was embarrassed by his flubs, didn't handle them well, and seemed like there was a never-ending supply of them, so that was part of the issue of getting him out there everywhere," a former Harris staffer told Politico. "I don't look back on that campaign and think that the way we used Walz was a critical error."

Walz revealed in an interview with the New Yorker, published March 2, that he is open to a potential presidential run in 2028, which was met with mockery by conservatives on social media earlier in March. 

Walz reiterated in his Politico interview that he is "not saying no" to a potential 2028 presidential run if the opportunity should present itself. 

"I'm staying on the playing field to try and help because we have to win," Walz said. "And I will always say this, I will do everything in my power [to help], and as I said, with the vice presidency, if that was me, then I'll do the job."

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz's office for additional comment on his remarks and did not immediately receive a reply.