Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is rooting for rain during Trump’s military parade Saturday

Former Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., is hoping for rain on Saturday during President Donald Trump’s military parade. 

During a “What’s Next: Conversations on the Path Forward” event hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP), Walz told CEO Neera Tanden that he had never hoped for rain so much in his life. 

“I’m just going to confess to it,” Walz said. “It might get me in trouble. Whatever. I have never so hoped for rain in my life.”

Trump is hosting a massive Flag Day military parade on Saturday to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to gather in the nation’s capital to witness the historic parade, which also coincides with the president’s 79th birthday. 

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According to the FOX Forecast Center’s Risk Of Weather Impact (ROWI) assessment, there is a medium risk of inclement weather in the nation’s capital, with showers and thunderstorms expected throughout part of the evening.

And Walz is hoping for that perfect storm. 

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The Democrat, who rose to the national stage as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate during her brief 2024 presidential campaign, criticized Trump along his usual attack lines on Friday. 

Walz said Trump is “incompetent at governing,” and America is in a “dangerous time” under Trump’s leadership, which the Minnesota governor said is “marching towards authoritarianism” following the chaotic incident in which authorities forcibly removed Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference Thursday. 

The Democrat confirmed on Friday that he will be speaking at a “No Kings” protest in St. Paul, Minn., this Saturday during Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C. 

“Somehow this got tied to billionaires in China funding this or whatever,” Walz said Friday. “I’m like, these are like people in St. Paul that just do protests and stuff. That’s what they do. They’re feeling it, and they organized it. I think going and making that case, it is a good counter.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., grilled Walz about attending the protest during a House Oversight Committee hearing with his fellow “sanctuary governors” on Capitol Hill Thursday. 

Luna said DHS discovered that China considered Walz a “prime target for influence operations.”

“You are working with, and going to be speaking at, an organization and rally that is not just funded by Christy Walton, the heiress of Walmart, but also has ties to the Chinese Progressive Association largely funding it, that actually brags on their website that they are pro-Maoist,” Luna said. 

But Walz dismissed Luna’s allegations, doubling down that Trump’s military parade “just looks wrong, feels wrong.”

“I think I’m going to go be with a few thousand folks who kind of have the tradition that there is a separation there, that we don’t need this. This is not Pyongyang on a Saturday,” Walz said, before admitting he was hoping for rain. 

Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea, which is a communist, totalitarian dictatorship. Walz has joined many Democrats, including those planning to protest on Saturday, who have criticized Trump’s military parade, drawing comparisons to China’s and North Korea’s military parades. 

Trump’s military parade on Saturday comes amid escalated conflict in the Middle East, after Israel launched air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leaders, and Iran responded by launching missiles toward Israeli territory. 

Walz was ridiculed earlier this year for celebrating Tesla’s stock drop as protests raged on, rejecting Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

“On the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day — $225 and dropping,” Walz said at the time.

FOX Weather’s Raymond Sanchez contributed to this report.