Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) took a page from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 playbook on Monday, taking her “basket of deplorables” comment to new lows as he trashed Republican voters at the Democratic Party’s summer meeting.

Walz began by attacking President Donald Trump’s efforts to root out Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies and claiming that the Democratic Party should lean in and protect them. The failed vice presidential candidate — who deployed his own state’s National Guard to enforce draconian COVID-era restrictions — went on to complain about Trump using the National Guard to assist local law enforcement in cracking down on crime.

WATCH:

Tim Walz says Democrats won’t back down on DEI, attacks “cruel” and “fascist” Republicans

“Think of how easy it would be to be a damn Republican. ‘Oh what should I wear today? This stupid, friggin red hat. What should I say today? Oh I don’t know, just make sure it’s cruel.'” pic.twitter.com/SPjuT5UNWA

— Anthony Gockowski (@AntGockowski) August 25, 2025

Walz pivoted to attack the press, complaining that there was no basis for media claims that there was a “division” within the Democratic Party. “There’s a division in my damn house and we’re still married and things are good! That’s life.”

When he turned to address Republicans, however, he could not hide his disdain: “Think of how easy it would be to be a damn Republican. ‘Oh what should I wear today? This stupid, friggin red hat. What should I say today? Oh I don’t know, just make sure it’s cruel. Who do we listen to? That guy? Oh, the felon in the White House? Yeah, I listen to him, and that will be fine.'”

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The Minnesota governor — who just a few short years ago had encouraged his state’s citizens to rat out their neighbors if they weren’t following COVID regulations — claimed that Trump’s policies were “fascist,” and it was important to say that out loud.

“I always get in trouble for it, I’ll continue to say it. I don’t think we do any favors when we don’t name it. These are fascist policies,” he said. “That is what they are … Now he’s talking about burning flags. He’s going to have flag burning or whatever, because he knows there’s a hell of a lot of flags with his picture on it that are going to get burned. There’s a whole lot of that kind of crap that people are sick of.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that customs duty revenues from President Donald Trump’s tariffs may top $500 billion a year, with a substantial jump from July to August and likely a bigger jump in September.

Bessent told a White House Cabinet meeting that his prior estimate of a $300 billion annual tariff collection rate was too low.

“We had a substantial jump from July to August, and I think we’re going to see a bigger jump from August to September,” Bessent said. “So I think we could be on our way well over half a trillion, maybe towards a trillion-dollar number. This administration, your administration, has made a meaningful dent in the budget deficit.”

Tariff revenue would offset the deficit increases triggered by the Republicans’ tax-cut and spending bill passed this year. CBO estimated this bill would widen the deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next decade.

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Trump’s tariffs drove July U.S. customs duty collections up by nearly $21 billion from the $7 billion collected in July 2024 and about even with the $20 billion increase registered in June. Significant increases in tariff rates for nearly all trading partners kicked in on August 7.

The U.S. Treasury reported on Monday that as of August 22, the government had collected $29.6 billion in combined customs and excise taxes so far during August, matching its total for the whole month of July. As of July 22, that combined figure stood at $7.8 billion, but customs duty collections can vary from day to day.

Bessent also noted that the Congressional Budget Office’s upwardly revised estimate last week of federal revenue from Trump’s tariffs, forecasting that it could reduce federal deficits by $4 trillion over 10 years. “And I would expect that that number could go up from here,” Bessent added.

The latest CBO estimate marks an increase from June, when it forecast that revenue from new tariffs would reduce deficits by $3 trillion over 10 years.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Mark Porter and David Gregorio)