COLUMBIA, S.C. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sought to energize activists at a Democratic state convention in South Carolina, as the party’s 2024 vice presidential nominee works to keep up the high national profile he gained when Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate.

Walz, a former schoolteacher who went on to serve in Congress and then became his state’s governor, keynoted the South Carolina gathering in Columbia, traditionally a showcase for national-level Democrats and White House hopefuls. Speaking to convention delegates for more than half an hour, Walz used colorful language and spoke plainly as he lobbed criticism at President Donald Trump and called on his fellow Democrats to have the courage to stand up to the “bully” in the White House.

“Maybe it’s time for us to be a little meaner,” Walz said, to applause from the crowd. “When it’s a bully like Donald Trump, you bully the s—- out of him. … This is a … cruel man.”

Testing Messages in Early Primary State

It was Walz’s third set of large-scale remarks in less than 24 hours for Walz, who, along with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, spoke Friday night at the party’s fundraising dinner, as well as an after-party fish fry hosted by Rep. Jim Clyburn.

The events offered an opportunity for both Walz and Moore 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.

“Donald Trump is the existential threat that we knew was coming,” Walz told the crowd Saturday morning, acknowledging that, for Democrats, “it is going to be a challenging few years here.”

As he did on Friday night, Walz praised his fellow Democrats for having the “courage” to keep fighting in a largely Republican state, where Democrats haven’t won a statewide election in about two decades and only hold one congressional seat — Clyburn’s.

Calling for Joy and Resistance

“Damnit, we should be able to have some fun and be joyful,” Walz said. “We’ve got the guts and we need to have it to push back on the bullies and the greed.”

Walz, on a long list of potential 2028 candidates who have been traveling to early-voting states, was expected to sound similar themes as a featured speaker as California Democrats gather in Anaheim on Saturday.

“We’re fired up to welcome Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to the Convention stage in Anaheim,” state chair Rusty Hicks said in a statement. “He’s a former teacher, a veteran, and a trailblazer who’s spent his career fighting for working families and standing up for the values we all share — fairness, dignity, and opportunity for all.”

Democrats have been debating since Harris lost to Trump in November over which direction the party should take. That self-examination reflects deep frustrations among Democratic voters that their leaders are failing to put up enough resistance against Trump, who has taken a much more aggressive approach to his second term in the White House.

Future Political Ambitions Remain Unclear

Walz hasn’t officially said if he’ll seek a third term in 2026, but acknowledges he’s thinking about it. He said in a recent interview with KSTP-TV that he would probably wait to decide until July, after he calls a special session of the closely divided Minnesota Legislature to finish work on the state’s next budget. Those negotiations have gone slowly despite his frequent meetings with legislative leaders.

He’s given mixed signals on a 2028 presidential run while keeping up his attacks on Trump. He told The New Yorker Radio Hour for an interview that aired in March that he would “certainly consider that” if circumstances were right. He told CNN’s “State of the Union” last month that he was “not thinking about running in 2028.”

But he hasn’t ruled it out, either, and has signaled possible interest in other ways.

Following the Democratic ticket’s defeat in November, Walz returned to the road in March when he went to Iowa to launch a series of town halls in competitive congressional districts represented by Republicans, after House Speaker Mike Johnson advised GOP representatives to avoid holding town halls because of protests at them.

Walz’s gubernatorial campaign organization, which has been actively raising money, has used his travels in “Support Tim on the Road” fundraising pitches.

“For the past few weeks, I’ve been showing up where Republicans won’t,” he wrote in one recent message, a theme he echoed on Saturday in South Carolina. “I’ve hosted town halls in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Texas to hear from people the GOP is neglecting.”

Karnowski reported from Minneapolis. Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP