The Press Box - Governor Tim Walz on the Democrats’ Midterm Momentum, the Danger of Prediction Markets, and Replaying His Debate With JD Vance. Plus: Thoughts on Bari Weiss’s New ‘60 Minutes’ Cast.

Episode Date: July 29, 2026

On today’s special episode of The Press Box, Bryan is joined by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. But first, Bryan opens by talking about the new ‘60 Minutes’ correspondents at CBS. Then, Bryan and Governor Walz talk about why he is not running for reelection, the midterms, his coaching career, and much more (06:05). Host: Bryan CurtisGuest: Tim Walz Producers: Isaiah Blakely and Jon Jones Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now streaming on Disney Plus, the Hulu original series Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black, played by Emmy Rossum, on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. New episodes week over week. Watch the Hulu original series Furious, now streaming only on Hulu on Disney Plus. Hello media consumers. Welcome to a bonus edition of the press box. It's Brian Curtis. It's producers Isaiah Blakely and John Jones here with you.

In just one second, I'm going to bring on Minnesota Governor Tim Walls to talk about his final year in office, what he's going to do when he leaves office, the midterms, and, oh yeah, his debate with J.D. Vance back in 2024. That's all coming up in just one second. But before we get there, I want to say just a few words about. the new 60 Minutes correspondence that were announced by CBS News on Tuesday. Barry Weiss, you'll remember from many, many previous episodes of the Press Box, pushed out correspondents like Scott Pelly and Cecilia Vega and Sharon Alfonzi, and Anderson Cooper walked out the door on his own two feet. We all asked, would 60 minutes still be 60 minutes when the show came back in September?

Well, this was Barry Weiss's chance to hire her own correspondence. to do what we would call here at the ringer a redraft. Here's the list, and I'll give you my thoughts on who she and CBS News hired. Number one, Nora O'Donnell is going to be a correspondent on 60 Minutes. Nora O'Donnell, of course, been in CBS News in various roles for a long time. Gianna Toboni is going to be a contributor. She worked at Vice News and also wrote a book about the death penalty. Trevor Phillips, a Sky News correspondent whom Weiss poached earlier in the summer.

and gave the title of Senior Global Affairs Correspondent, what a grand title that is. Trevor Phillips is going to be a contributor to 60 Minutes. Sebastian Younger is also going to be a contributor. Sebastian Younger, of course, is the author of The Perfect Storm, a book I had a chance to reread a couple years ago because I thought I was going to have Younger on the podcast to talk about it. I never got around to that, but, man, does that book hold up?

It is still incredibly powerful. He, of course, has also made documentaries. he'll be a contributor. But the last name on the list is probably the most interesting. Ross Douthit, a columnist for the New York Times, is going to be a 60 minutes correspondent. That is not a sentence I thought I would say 20 years ago when I spotted Ross Douthit at a New York media party. Ross Douthid, of course, has been a columnist for the New York Times for 17 years, 17 years. his podcast, Interesting Times, is a wilder and wackier version of his old mentor William F. Buckley's firing line.

What's Ross going to do at 60 minutes? Well, I don't think he's going to be Andy Rooney. I also don't think he's going to be a correspondent like Steve Croft or Scott Pelly. If you read Nick Bilton's memo, it indicates that they valued Ross's skills as an interviewer. And we all know that Barry Weiss's CBS News has been about above all. big gets, landing big newsmakers and doing newsmaking interviews. So why would Ross Douthit go to 60 minutes? Well, of course there's money. The question I have, though, is does being a 60 minutes correspondent give him a bigger pulpit

than writing a column and hosting a podcast to the New York Times? Now, in terms of eyeballs, yes, absolutely it does. Ross's interview with J.D. Vance recently got about 75,000 views on YouTube. obviously doing an interview with J.D. Vance on 60 Minutes would be a huge, huge multiple of that number. I do wonder about his writing, which has not been addressed, at least when I last checked. Is he going to write columns for CBS's website or for the free press? Because part of the power of Ross's writing was that it existed among the libs in the New York Times opinion section. He was the conservative.

Not sure it plays the same way if it's somewhere else in the CBS expanded universe. Now, what about from Barry Weiss's point of view? Well, she got a big name, that's for sure, somebody that wouldn't have been on many of our lists, even 24 hours ago. It is, of course, probably, I don't know if ironic is the right word, but it's something that given all the Times men and Times women, she might have courted, she picked the one conservative columnist on the opinion page, or I guess besides Brett Stevens. Though maybe if Douthit does wind up podcasting and writing for CBS, Weiss will have ever. finally have addressed the digital future of CBS news that she has basically neglected so far. One related point that I meant to tweet the other day and I kind of forgot. Did you see Ezra Klein on Twitter? There was a former Grand Platner campaign staffer who had been complaining that

Klein did not reach out to her before he did a podcast interview and Klein came out and said, no, no, no, one of the producers tried to reach out to you three different ways and a research department, they found coordinates for you and we tried to get you. It all underscores something about big podcasts that I think listeners may not understand. These big podcasts, they may seem like the work of one or two people. In fact, there are a lot of people that work on these shows behind the scenes, a lot. Pablo Torre has said that what he's doing is taking the writing that he used to do and translating it into a podcast. And I think that's right from the perspective that Torres' pod has his sensibilities, just like Klein's has his.

But the number of people behind the scenes that work on these shows tells you that what mega podcasts are adapting for a new media age isn't written journalism. It's the old TV news magazine show, like 60 Minutes, with a squadron of producers and researchers and behind the scenes people. And now Ross Douthit gets to go to the actual 60 Minutes and try that out. All right, here's the governor. Our special guest today is Governor Tim Walls. He is the 41st Governor of Minnesota.

He was the Democrats Vice Presidential nominee two years ago, and he's one of the highest ranking former defensive coordinators in American politics. Governor, welcome to the press box. Good to be with you, Brian. Thanks for having me. So for the last 20 years of your life, you have been running for office or getting ready to run for office. What does it feel like not to be running for anything? It's fantastic. I've spent a little more time with my dog.

Toxic stress levels have come down. Actually played a couple rounds of golf doing my job. But no, it's been a privilege. It's a privilege to serve. I put myself up every couple years in front of my neighbors and my fellow Minnesotans and Americans and did the best we could. But it does feel pretty good. I said, especially in this environment, I'm like everybody else.

I'm so disappointed with the tone and tenor of our politics. politics that, you know, figure if there's another way I can help fix it. I'm going to try and do that. What will you not miss about running for office? I think fundraising for one of them. You know, I do it. It's one of the things you have to do. And look, I listened to you last week talking about Stephanie Ruhl, and she's right. If you're a high school teacher with no political experience and no money, you've got to go out and raise the money. It doesn't matter how good you are at it. You're not going to get no one. And so we got to figure out that piece. But until we do, you got to be on the phone.

all the time and raise money. And I think people just instinctively know that that's just not the right thing and not the best use of time. For people who haven't followed Minnesota politics, why aren't you running for a third term? Well, no one's ever done it before in Minnesota for one thing. And I think, secondly, I've got to be honest with you, my closest political ally and dearest friend was murdered in her doorway with her husband and her dog. Melissa Hortman, our Speaker of the House. She and I, and I think a lot of great folks accomplished a lot, put Minnesota at the forefront of reducing childhood poverty, paying free school meals, access to college, health care. We got a lot done, and that one kind of broke me. And I think, look, we had people praying on our generosity in Minnesota.

Big difference between fraud and corruption. President knows a lot about both. I would argue in Minnesota, we've got folks trying to prey on our systems. And I think it's important someone takes accountability on that. And I said, I'm certainly willing to do that. And I think when the time is when the time is there, I've never believed that it needed to be me. I do believe it needs to be a Democrat in that office. And I believe Senator Klobuchar, who's running for governor, will be a fantastic governor. And that ensures that the policies that we've done to improve people's lives will continue on. On the subject of Melissa Hortman, there was some reporting in the New York Times and other places that after her death, that is in fact what made you decide to initially declare that you wanted to run

for a third term. Is that true? Well, I think it was a combination of both. I got, you know, people I trust around me and they did polling and stuff. And, you know, I think probably, and I don't even, I think it would be unfortunate now. I think I'd win again. But the question is in eight years, you know, I think people, heck, I get tired of myself after that amount of time. And I think it comes time for a change. You don't have a lock on these offices. One of the things was is to try and continue on. And I got to be candid, Brian, you know, if I was picking who I would have liked to have had to be the next governor, it was Melissa Hortman. And she and I talked on that. She was, she was the least ego-driven person in politics I had ever seen, and she would do it out of

public service. And I think she was at the point where she was probably thinking about doing that. And then so the things that we were able to do together with other legislative partners and our allies, we've made Minnesota the best place in the country to raise a family. And we're leading on climate change, you know, tackling that. And so I wanted to continue those things on, but I'm also not arrogant enough to believe it needs to be me to do that. But it certainly needs to be someone not aligned with Donald Trump, not aligned with, you know, what I've said very clearly is a is a very totalitarian view of how things should work. And also, quite honestly, I mean, I don't even know how to wrap my mind around just the blatant corruption. So I have to tell you, you know,

they gripe at me about fraud and I'll own it that we need to do more and we have done. and more and we're stopping people from doing some of that. But that happens across the country. We've never seen a president make nearly $2 billion by in office. No politician should leave office with any more money than they came in with. And I'm proud when the Wall Street Journal said when I was running for vice president that I was the poorest person to ever run for that position because I'm a teacher and I'm middle class and I don't have stocks. I have a defined benefit pension plan that I'm very proud of. I work to get that. But I think I'm just surprised Americans aren't more outraged by this corruption and stuff.

And Melissa and I had a very similar view on that. So kind of broke my spirit with that, but I also think it's a good time to let somebody else step into that. And I'll go try and do something else. You've said you'll never run for any office again. No, I don't believe so. It was an honor to do so. I got to tell you, Brian, I was 40 years old,

and I never imagined running. I never once in my life thought about running for office or set it, teaching school, coaching, raising, a family and stuff. And I think it was the time to do public service. And I think, look, elected office is an incredible honor. But there are many ways to serve this country. There's many ways to serve democracy. There's many ways to help your neighbors. And I think my time in elected, you know, running for office, I'm just on to something else. And I look forward to what that next thing is. And again, making sure I'm able to elect folks. I'm out there trying to help some of

these folks because I know what it's like to run in a Republican district. We had one Democrat since 1892. I'm glad no one told me that when I started running. I was too naive. But I want to go out and help these people. They're springing up all over. Just folks that want to do the right thing. And if you're not a millionaire, it's very difficult to do that. So I want to go help some of those folks. So you're starting a political action committee. You've started one this spring. And that's to help teachers and people like you were in 2006 run for office? Yeah. Yeah, to give them some help. And look, I like those districts that, like my district was on the edge. And I acknowledge it in 2006. I was the I rode the wave and floated in at the end because there wasn't, you know, until the last month, I started getting some national help.

But there's great folks out there working it, getting good messages. And I wanted, if I can do some things to give them a little bit of help, I want to do that. Those are exact people we need to get into office. Folks that really have, like I said, you think Donald Trump has ever put gas in a car? You think he's ever shopped and compared prices of cereal? You think he's ever done those things? No. And I do think it matters if you've done it.

You relate to folks in a more real manner. And we need more people to do that. But right now our system makes it impossible. Although I'm encouraged, you see these grassroots folks popping up. And it doesn't just mean that we're, you know, I hear too much anti-establishment. Well, eventually we all become the establishment to a certain degree, but we shouldn't lose our focus on how we got here. And I think some of that is where the problem is. Is the Graham Platner experience in Maine not a cautionary tale for unvetted candidates who show up in our Twitter feeds?

Yeah, I think so. And I think there is some methods. Look, I will tell you this. I don't know if anybody has been vetted more than me. And, you know, I said it's a soul-searching colonoscopy when they do that. And so no one on the Harris campaign was surprised. The one thing is I think we need candidates to be very candid about this. But I also would caution us of being, you know, Democrats throw these people.

out. We got this congressman down in Florida throwing hot water on his wife and hurting his child and they're standing with him. They will come at you on anything. You would have thought from an administration of a president who avoided the draft numerous times that they would be a little hesitant to come after a 24 year of veteran with a good record, but they tried to smear me the same way. So I think we have to be cautious, certainly on things with the Platner situation if it involves domestic violence, any of those type of things. Yeah, very cautious. But, But I also think we shouldn't be so quick, you know, give grace to people. I've always said this.

I said it in the military. You don't ever get to become a first sergeant or a sergeant major if you yourself weren't nearly kicked out of the Army for doing something insane because it's kind of just risk takers. So I said, folks who are willing to lead and do this are probably risk takers. But I think knowing that it's all out there and I would caution anybody who's going to run for office, you got to just bear it all out there because it will come out. And it's just better to do it.

And I think the American people love a redemption story. Christ, Donald Trump, I guess, is living proof of that. Let me ask you about the midterms. As you look around the country, what could Democrats be doing better as they try to win governors' races and take back Congress? Well, I think they're doing a good job. We got great candidates. We got 36 governor's races out there.

Andy Bashir is doing a great job at the Democratic Governors Association. He's a great example of that you can be progressive and compassionate and have. have a vision of economic growth. I think we should say focused on the things that we're going to do to improve people's lives. I think if I were a candidate, I would let others do the work on Donald Trump. That's jobs for me. I will call that bastard out every single day, and I will go after them because I like it when they're putting emphasis on me. They're still spending time on me. I'm not running for office, but a whole bunch of Democrats are, and they're going to win. I think our folks need to focus on what it is to improve people's lives. Again, I've been cautioning this

for years. People forget with President Biden, we had the majority in the House and the Senate. We've done these before. And Donald Trump showed what we did here in Minnesota. We had a one-vote majority and we basically passed the New Deal. Just go. And people are waiting. Why are we going to wait a generation for universal health care? Why are people in Congress? And this is where I'm going to be, I don't think there's a lot of both sides is. I've got to be honest with you, Brian. But when it comes to things like insider trading and stock trading, I'm ashamed of some Democrats. And why aren't we banning that? Why aren't we doing those things to give people faith back in the system? Because when you say government doesn't work and, you know, Republicans say it, then they get elected,

prove it that it doesn't work. It undermines the entire system. So we have a responsibility, yes, to protect the system, but we also have a responsibility to do what the Republicans have done. Push the envelope a little bit. You weren't elected to bank political capital to get elected in two years. You were elected to get people health care and bring costs down and get their children good education. So do it. I think the proof has to be in the pudding and I think far too long. We have been happy with incremental change. Sometimes in government, that's the only thing you can do. But I would argue we're in a place right now. Come with bold ideas, focus on improving people's lives, allow other people to go after Trump, for God's sakes. That's shooting fish in a barrel and show the people there's an

alternative. You've seen Democrats nominate a slate of House candidates in New York City, and then on the other side of the spectrum, Roy Cooper, who's running for Senate, North Carolina, and fellow governor. What's the identity of the Democratic Party in 2026, do you think? It's that we are a big tent, and I'm proud of that. The folks in North Carolina know Roy Cooper. Roy Cooper's effective. He does it. It doesn't mean he's not progressive. It's just a little difference. And this gets me because I think I consider myself pretty progressive. Certainly the Republicans think it is, but I have to tell you, I govern more so that there are some Democrats that think I'm a Republican. And so I think it's finding the candidate that fits where they're at that speaks to the heart of where people are at and go with them.

And I, you know, this idea that Mayor Mondami, who I love, I think he's doing incredible things. He's right for New York City. He's right for that. He may be right for more than that. I don't know. But the idea that you've got to model just that or that somehow if you're not modeling that, you're not holding up to our ideals. Roy Cooper expanded Medicaid and improved the lives of millions of North Carolinians and numerous other things. So I think it's about effectiveness. It's not about messaging. I worry about that, that I think everybody thinks we're going to get somebody's going to ride in on the white horse. They're going to be a wonderful orator. They're going to, you know, every candidate thinks, oh, I'm going to win this debate. No one gives a damn about the debate. They care if they connect with

and think you're improving their lives. And so what I think is is that we shouldn't try, because we're seeing it, we're seeing it in primaries. We saw it in Colorado with Michael Bennett. We're seeing it to a certain degree in Minnesota, that somehow there's this mainstream moderate Democrat versus the more progressive Democrat. I want the Democrat who gets things done and improve our lives. In many cases, it's a blend of both of those.

Because I would say this, I'm not talking about situational ethics. I am talking about situational leadership. Sometimes it makes sense to compromise and move. a direction there in other times? Like I said, I have no obligation to meet Republicans halfway to halfway to farm programs that might increase, you know, soil quality or whatever. Those are things that I think the Democrats have to be clear about. But we're kind of all or nothing. We have this perfect candidate. That's what you want to act. And if you're less than that, man, I'll tell you what, though, we are, we will circular firing squad ourselves in no time flat.

And I think we have to be careful about that. This is generally portrayed as a battle for the party's identity. You don't see it that way? No, I think it's, I think it's a battle for, can Democrats be effective for Christ's sakes and get things done? Look, we always win. Our ideas are always better. If this were about who has the best ideas, we'd win every election. But we win hearts and minds, and they win power, and they get things done. I think we need to take a little bit of that, that when you win this election, you better be moving towards universal health care. You better be moving to some of these things and addressing climate change in a real way that the public is there. You better tackle things like gun violence. All these things

pull really big. And I think we have progressive Democrats who have gotten great things done and some who have gotten nothing done. And we've had centrist Democrats who have done incredibly progressive things. And we have centrist Democrats who have compromised and not. And I think it's more about the effectiveness of what you're trying to get done in government and less just about thinking that we have this perfect, you know, this purity test. Because I've seen it happen. Oh, he's right on all these. He's right on this issue.

But boy, I just, I can't tell you like this. And the idea that people can't evolve their positions for goodness sake. Some of our most progressive leaders were against gay marriage as late as 2006. President Obama was not on board really early on. But I don't think anybody's going to question President Obama's commitment to the LGBTQ community. It's unwavering. It just as people evolve differently. But it still comes down to what are you getting done?

What is happening in your state? We get so caught up in the rhetoric that you have the best rhetoric and you're the purest. Well, I want to see what you can get done. What about Trump's second term has surprised you? That there weren't more Republicans that stood up to it. And I say that amongst governors. That used to be a really tight group. and we would oftentimes say that governors would transcend politics.

But when the federal government, you know, the don't tread on me, people disappeared, when the federal government basically raged war on my state, and I was asking the National Governors Association to do something about it, it was pretty much crickets. I will give this, Kevin Stitt, who's heading it up right now, and I'm going to go down and see him in Oklahoma. He was one that stood up and said, this is not right to do this to states. I mean, it doesn't take a huge imagination to tell a Republican governor, how would you like it if a Democratic president sent troops in, killed your people, and then took all your money, even though you're a state that is one of the few states that pays more in than they get back.

If you're a state that can actually prove you're doing better than other states and there was silence. So I think this term surprised me more than that, that the guardrails, if you will, were truly off. And people that I looked up to, I'm seeing a little bit of this. I always had a good relationship with John Thune. He was a neighbor in South Dakota. A lot of these folks, I would have considered Christynom a friend when we were in Congress. We partnered together on things like biofuels coming from Midwestern agricultural states. And then they all just fell in line.

You know, I think I co-captened the congressional football team with Mark Wayne Mullen. We got pictures of us together and we were friendly, talked about that. And now, you know, he's talking about arresting me because I'm not apparently doing ICE's work. That surprised me. It surprised me. I shouldn't have. I always remembered back at a philosophy class doing it on and Hannah Arndt's banality of evil and how easy it is for people to fall into that. And man, was she right? People will drop down that rabbit hole very quickly. And that did surprise me. It shouldn't have, but it did. Let me ask about your final year as governor. On Monday, a judge temporarily blocked a law that you signed that would ban prediction markets in Minnesota. Why'd you ban prediction markets? Because they're unregulated gambling. There's rampant insider trading.

They are not markets. They are, and look, my entire life considered myself a bit libertarian. I think adults can make their own decisions on things. It's why I started running. It wasn't popular when I started it, but I said, look, I'm going to legalize recreational cannabis because it's ridiculous that what we're doing on this and arresting people. Very, very much about you making your choices. But I also believe there has to be parameters on it.

That cannabis needs to be safe, for example. It needs to be regulated. It needs to be tested. These markets, I'm fine with people gambling. You know, that's a choice they need to make. I think you need to have all the facts about it. But to try and sell these, like this is like investing in Best Buy Corporation and your return would be or whatever. It's insane.

And we see it time and time again. And I said my son came to this. You think about this back in 24. My then 17-year-old said, hey, dad, you're at 9,000 to 1 to be the Democratic nominee for vice president. I should put down $100. I said, no, you should not put down $100. But the point being was, I was still at like 2001 the night before. Well, guess who knew what was coming?

And I see Donald Trump and his people do this. I mean, he manipulates the market. I call it manipulation Monday. Wars on, wars off, all of a sudden, oil. And in the prediction markets, there's not even any separation at all. His sons are invested in that. And we simply said, it's an unregulated gambling. It's rigged.

It's got insider trading, and you're not going to do it. And so they're suing us. I just did an EO yesterday. Nobody in state government. If you're in state government, you can't participate in these things. Because look, they know what we're investing in. They know where a new road is going to go. And then apartments will spring up and things like that.

I mean, the sanctity of the market, which Donald Trump has ruined, by the way, on the Wall Street market, it's the only thing he cares about. But this type of stuff is, I just don't get it. I hope more states do it. And I hope we prevail. in court. When it comes to state employees there in Minnesota, are you worried they're going to find out non-public info and then go make a bet? Or they're going to actually engineer outcomes inside government to then pay off bets for other people? It could go either way. This is what's so insidious about

corruption. Brian Barrett, a representative from Washington State and I, we were the two co-authors and the only people on the bill on the Stock Act, stopped trading on congressional knowledge, clear back in 2008. I was a new member of Congress. I had no idea of being Congress. I knew nothing. about it. I was teaching high school. The next thing I know I'm in Congress. And I'm sitting there watching a vote one night on the auto bailout. And I looked at Brian, I said, this thing's going to fail. He said, yeah, if you get GM stock, you probably should sell it. Well, it turns out that's exactly what people were doing. They did an analysis at the University of Chicago-Urbana, I believe it was, back in 2008, that showed members of Congress outperformed the general public statistically way too high on stock market

bets. Now, there's two things there. Either members of Congress are really smart and really savvy, or they had insider information, and I think you know what they had. So Brian and I put that up. We were the ones who originally passed the Stock Act. This is about trust in government. It's about insidious. And again, I'm going to lay this out to my, again, I'm not of both sidesism, but on this one I am, if you're a Democratic elected official in your trading stock, shame on you.

Shame on you just in the general principle of that. Certainly, if you're doing it on knowledge of the committee you're in, I just think it undermines basic trust. And again, I say, Donald Trump works really hard to try and conflate fraud with corruption. They're two very different things. In the state of Minnesota, no elected official and no in state employee has ever been accused or ever had anything to do with what happened in fraud. Donald Trump wants to make that the case. That is very different than the federal government, where they are clearly, I mean, you see it with these tariffs. Oh, you come in and give me a, deal on this and I'll give me an exemption on your tariffs. What am I getting for it?

I don't know, a plane, a free round of golf. My sons get a job. You know, it is insidious. It is, it is, we used to measure safety and security of, you know, governments around the world. We're way down the list now that corruption is starting to come in. And that's, you know, people are getting pardons from him because they're connected. All of this stuff is connected. And I think these prediction marks are just the newest thing.

but they go hand in hand with stock trading, trading on insider information. And I don't want any state employees to even have a thought about doing that. Let me ask you about another story I read about. Last month, you voted to pardon a man named Tulu Vang, who was an immigrant who'd been convicted of sexually abusing a child 20 years ago. Then this month, DHS comes along and deports Vang anyway. Marco Rubio made a video about it. Why did you vote to pardon Tulu Vang, given the seriousness of his crime?

Yeah, well, we have a part of it. So they go through a whole procedure on this. It's a seven-member committee or nine-member committee. They vote. And then it comes in front of the three members of the pardon board. And on this one was just be a Mr. Vang was 17 at the time. And I think people think on this, he did his time. He was 20 plus years out, no crimes, productive member of society. And in this case, the overriding reason for me was not only did the victim support this, the victim came and advocated for that Mr. Vang, at the time as a 17-year-old, statistically still a minor, certainly not trying to say any of this was the right thing, any of it was good. He was sentenced to prison, as he should have been, and did his time. He was, you know, the argument is we have to get him out here because he's unsafe. Well, why don't you do that 20 years ago? 20-plus years ago, he's been on the streets ever since on that. He's got a family here. He's got people who were counting on him, and he's never been. He came here as a refugee after the Vietnam War, many of the Hmong came here because they fought with us.

And if they're sent back, they end up being persecuted or killed. So look, this was a tough one. I think grace in this, and this is the reason why people don't want to do it. Nobody wants to issue a pardon because then everybody's like, oh, you did this. I would say this. Marco Rubio should worry less about Minnesota and worry about the Epstein files if he's worried about pedophilia. This was a 17-year-old convicted of abusing a younger child, did the time, live their time out, And I made, and my fellow members made the decision that it was in the best interest of the family that was here and what the victim believed was in the best interest of the family was to pardon this man.

But again, this is all about, they don't care about pedophilia. If they did, we would have the Epstein files out and Todd Blanchard would be doing his job rather than trying to bring false charges against James, Comey, myself, Tricia James, and others. And Vang did prison time, not just probation for that crime? He did. He did. Prison time, I believe, on that. He was a juvenile at the time. And just to be clear, so this is evidence you saw both you said the victim statement and of his rehabilitation not to help him avoid deportation. No, on the same day, on the same day, I denied many that resulted in deportation because they didn't get it. So again, this administration will spin everything in there.

And look, this is hard. There's a group of people out there that believes there's no such thing. I do believe that restorative justice can work. I believe this was a heinous crime. but we've issued pardons to people who've done some of these things. And many times, there are either two things that are related to it. They're either done when they're juveniles, where we have people in prison who convicted crimes and they were 16 or they're drug-related or poverty-related.

So this was a tough one. But that very same day, there was another situation. This gentleman was older than 17 at the time. And I didn't believe that there was rehabilitation and the victim was opposed. And that was denied. So this had nothing to do with trying to avoid just avoiding deportation. It was this administration is coming up and deporting people, you know, the vast majority. This is one they thought they had a nugget of it because, look, it's a terrible story.

It sounds terrible. But as governor and the idea of restorative justice and protection of the public, I think in my seven and a half years of all the pardons and commutations we give, and I think we have a recidicism rate of far less than 1%. So these are folks, you know, what did this do to protect? protect America. What did it do to make anything safer? This gentleman's been walking the street for over two decades and never even got a parking ticket. Um, so the idea, and again, this administration talking about pedophilia is just a sick joke, um, with Todd Blanche, this president and the Epstein files. I mentioned your previous life as a defensive coordinator.

When the country heard about your coaching career two years ago, it inspired a very interesting conversation because we tend to think of football coaches as somewhat right wing coded or at least having a certain disposition. You were a coach and also the faculty advisor for your high school's Gay Straight Alliance. Would you make that whole conversation about what a coach or a football coach specifically could be? Yeah, coach is a teacher 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, I would do, you know, 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 Waters of the world, that you've got to be hyper-masculent 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. I do recognize in our country that that is a stereotype. I hate that I would get associated with somebody like Tommy Tuberville because we both coach football. We could not be more different. But I think that was the part of it. But I do think, you know, I recognize this, that, look,

we have a guy who served in the Army, a guy who hunts, a guy who coach football. So of course, the Republicans, all they want to do is anything to say, he's gay. Like, that's an insult to me. I don't know. I'm not, but if I was, what difference would it make? And I think it was that of modeling that for the students that everybody belonged. Everybody should have a place. And it was helpful. And my football players were great about that. And I happened to live in a great state and a great community where people simply mind their own business and allow people to live their own lives. This idea, we've got people that have never, ever went to a youth sporting event, have never volunteered. They certainly never coached our umpires. or anything like that, that are just deeply concerned that some transgender athlete out there is just doing that. They don't give a damn about women's sports. They don't give a damn about that. If they did care about women's sports and they did care about the safety of that, we would do better background checks on the male coaches in female sports. That would be something I would encourage us to do a little better job of because every day we see these stories. So I think it was just,

it's the right thing to do. I, you know, the coaching thing I would have to tell you, Brian, it was interesting was Bill Clinton who said this. He said, be careful about them defying you in this. He said, you're a consequential governor with other things. And I took that to heart, but I also wear it with great pride that I was a teacher and a coach. And I think that's right. I think you can be many things, but in our current political environment, we want caricatures and we want simply to boil this down to very simple talking points. Most of us are more complex on that. I've had a conservative voting record. There were votes that I took that over time, I would not vote the same way now, not just for politics, but because I've changed on it. I've learned more. I'm not the same person

I was when I was 40 years old. During your coaching days, what would you say to a player who you thought was dogging it on the film? Well, I would try and get them in and find out what it was. I was sensitive to that because I said, I was always really, and there's times I had to apologize. You know, I'm yelling at a coach. And I said, you know what? I'm yelling at you because I didn't do a good enough job calling this or whatever. I would try to find out what it was. And then I was trying to make the case that, you know, others are, others are kind of counting on you and, and, you know, give it to them. You know, you're not caring what everybody else thinks, but they count on you and they want to be there. And I think we were successful because a lot of times I would see coaches say,

you need to make the play of your life or whatever. If you're telling your kids, they need to make the play of your life, you're in big trouble. Play within yourself. The guy next to you is going to do his job. You do your job, your best or your ability. will be just fine and worked out. And what you ended up seeing out of that was was trust and it took the pressure off of them. Because I don't think very often would you find a kid who wasn't doing the best. It's not like they wanted to miss a tackle. It's not like they wanted to, you know, fall down and get scored on over the top or something.

They wanted to be in the right place. Our job is coach is to put them in the right place, give them the skills. And then the one thing, you know, the dogging, it's one thing. You got to motivate them. That's on us. But sometimes I think this is true in politics, too. Sometimes somebody just beats you. You know, sometimes somebody just did something better.

And there's no shame in that. You should almost celebrate it. But I said it's like everybody believes there's a good and a bad decision. And sometimes I have found this out, certainly during COVID, certainly during Metro Surge. Sometimes there's a bad decision. And then there's a horrific decision. And you're just hoping to make the bad one because that's your responsibility.

And I would tell kids to start learning that in life. You know, I know you're frustrated. And if you can't make this play, that's okay. You need to let us know. do as we can adjust for it. And when you're coaching a football team, we do it all the time. You're going to have a player that has strength and weaknesses. You've got to cover some people. And you can do that. And I would try and explain that to them, you know, because I think a lot of times, especially if you saw a kid not going as hard, it came out of frustration that they weren't able to do it.

The coaches I've met as a sports writer are really good at replaying games over and over again in their mind. How many times have you replayed various scenes from the 2024 campaign? Oh, I do. And, you know, I feel a sense of responsibility. I think when I see the horrific things happening in people's lives, that would not have happened had we won. And it's not like, oh, you know, you get what you voted for or whatever. No, I don't view it that way. I keep thinking, should we have done this, should we have done that? It's interesting being as part of a team. And I am a loyalist. I am a team player. And I will do what's asked of me. I keep. replaying, you know, could I have done better here? Should I have done better here? You know, but I think in the time given, Vice President Harris, you know, she had her under days. I had my 90. I think we laid out a vision that was hopeful. It was joyful. It was kind. It was compassionate. We were truthful. I said when they fact-checked the debate I did, it was 32 misstatements to one. My one, I argue still is. The misstatement they said on me is Donald Trump doesn't pay taxes.

I stand by that to this day. I will stand by that that, you know, they fact-checked me and I was wrong. But I think, again, the lessons I've learned in thinking through this is that my tendency as a teacher is to try and find some common ground, try and do this. I anticipated that they would be bad. I wasn't quite certain they would be this bad. And, you know, I thought about it. And so, yeah, I do replay it because I think people losing their health care, the climate

issues that we're facing, the damage we've done to global security and our allies, the troops that are being killed in a senseless war, those wouldn't have happened if we'd have won most likely. And so I do replay that. And, you know, I think what you do if you're replaying it is not lamenting the fact, but thinking about, well, what can I do going forward that would be better. And that's one of the things that I'm doing. I want to go find candidates to make sure they're there. And right now, we just need to make sure we have a Congress that at least ask them to accountable. I've never seen anything like it. I voted against, and I got in fights with Democratic presidents when I was in Congress. As a governor, I spearheaded a letter to Joe Biden against his

Air Force Secretary, who I thought was stepping on states' rights in a ridiculous manner. And I went out and got all 50 governors and all four of the territorial governors to sign a letter to Joe Biden criticizing the decision they made. When the Trump administration did the same thing, I went out to spearhead the same letter. I couldn't get a single repulsive. to sign on. And I think Democrats need to recognize that's a difference between us. And what I've learned is, is, you know, and I said it not to be that. I said I needed to be a little meaner maybe and a little more. I don't know if that was the right word, but not quite so polyanish because the folks behind these folks, it's not Trump. I'm surprised he can tie a shoe. It's the people

behind him. And those are the people that really worry me, the Project 2025 architects, the Scott Bessons in some of those folks. Those are the ones that we need to, we need to make sure we hold accountable. You mentioned your debate with J.D. Vance. He came out that night as a very conciliatory figure, which is very different than the character he plays on social media now and in person now. What did you make of that approach in the moment when you're standing out of stage? It was the one approach we didn't prep for.

I had the best people prepping me. And look, I said as a school teacher, I can bring up things. I can fight with anybody or whatever. I don't necessarily like that mode because like I said, I'm more conciliatory. I had the best people as we prepped for it. We prepped every scenario except that one. And I would say, I think his people, and he got people from Minnesota, there's no doubt about it, saying, if you approach this softer and kinder, walls will suck right back in and stand and not be quite as forceful on that.

I thought I made strong points on where we were. I thought their housing stuff was ridiculous. I thought we, you know, and the initial point. polling afterwards showed independence leaning towards us. It showed our numbers was up. I was more popular and still am, you know, than he was. But I do think letting some of those things fall and the way he was more conciliatory. And I said, I fell for this, you know, 90 days. And for six or seven of those, we were talking about eating dogs and cats. He knew exactly what they were doing there. It sucked us down that space. It kept us away from other things. And so we just didn't prepare for them

to do that. And I will give them credit. They were smart. But I think we all need to be very clear that was all an act that's not who he was i think the thing that i will pull through what you saw from me that's who i am um i'm being honest and i'm being fact check like i said he had 32 statements that were independent fact checkers said were were blatantly false and in america i don't know if that matters you know you win by telling lies i guess i don't know i got one last sports question before we go, you're a big Minnesota Vikings fan. I am. I'm not going to ask for your saddest Vikings memory because we don't have the much time left. What is your happiest Minnesota Vikings memory? I think the Minnesota miracle, because it, you know, the long pass, the win in New Orleans,

because it reminded me, and I was always believed this way, you're always in a game until the end, and I always tried to tell myself that. That day after they had, scored, I have to say, was one of the times I remember thinking, damn it, I thought this was the team. I thought we were going to be there and they won it. So it brought me back. And I make no apologies about it. I will have my heartbroken this year. I'm certain. But we're always competitive. It's always fun. And you know, we, in life, you have to set intermediate goals. If we sweep the Packers, nothing else really matters. And that's, and I'm okay with the Lions winning a few games. So. And it's the coolest chant inside a stadium in the NFL.

Is it none? It is. It is. It is a, it is great. Look, I love the organization. I love the Wills. I think we got the right people. I'm just going to say it on here, probably not a popular opinion.

I have not given up on J.J. McCarthy. I have not reminding people. He's what, 21, 22. I have not given up on him. I know that I know it's a harsh business. You know, the, who was it, Glanville? NFL stands for not for long.

that that's probably true. It might be in JJ's case, but I'm going to show some grace to JJ. I think the Kyler Murray JJ thing is healthy for both of them. And we're pretty solid everywhere else. So I think the Vikings would be competitive. I think we win 11 games going into playoffs.

11 games. Yep, that's what I'm saying. I think what surprised people is that the organization seemed to give up on him. Not that fans gave up on McCarthy. Yeah, well, I think a bit of panic, maybe a little bit. Look, I think O'Connell's great, and the team out there is great.

I'm telling you they're true professionals. And look, my interaction, I don't know JJ McCarthy well, but I remember I was out there and had some of my, I had my son along and a few friends. And there were a lot of young kids out there at training camp that first year he came in. And I was just so impressed he would spend time with them. He was talking to him, a true professional. At that time, he was 20 years old. And like I said, I couldn't probably tie my shoe at 20 type of thing.

And what we're asking for him on the biggest stage, I know they're getting paid a lot of money for it, but they're still, there's still people. So I don't think it was so much giving up. I think there was a sense of panic because you know how these things go. You cover this well. You build for a window and you got to take advantage of your window or the other side is coming down. And I think there was a sense of our, you know, did we make a mistake here as the rest of us are coming down? So we'll see. I think this year will prove it. We still got another, the window's still open for a year or two. Was it weird watching Sam Donald when a Super Bowl in Seattle last year?

Totally predictable. Every Minnesota knew it. I mean, I don't know the number of texts I sent to my brother-in-law. I said, damn, he's going to win it. I mean, it's what we do. We just send them on to win. Governor Tim Walls, an eternal optimist, 11 wins for the Vikings next season.

Yes, that's my call. Next Brian. Thanks, Brian. Thanks, Brian. All right, that's the press box. I'm Brian Curtis. Prediction magic by Isaiah Blakely and John Jones. coming up on the press box, we ain't done this week.

If people are taking summer vacations in July, we are not among them. Because one, Mark Waducci came by, Ringer headquarters in New York this week. That's right, Mark Waducci, the man who runs Vanity Fair. We talked about putting his stamp on the magazine during his first year as editor. And by the way, he still calls it a magazine. We talked about the Susie Wiles story, celebrity profiles, the revamped Vanity Fair Oscar party hiring Olivia Nutsi and Guaducci's years at vogue. That is coming up tomorrow.

Can't wait for you to hear that interview. And oh yeah, Guaducci also picked his top five Vanity Fair covers of all time. Couldn't do this podcast without a list or two. So look for that and we'll put the covers on Instagram so you can see them there. Next week, Shoemaker's back. I'm back. We're all back with more lukewarm tics about the media. I'll talk to you then.