Tim Walz says it's been "pure hell" since Democrats lost last November.
Speaking with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, the Minnesota governor was asked what advice he'd give to those opposing Trump's agenda.
"You know that overused term, ‘The frog in the boiling water?’ We've been in the damn pot way too long," Walz said. "I think it is speaking up. It's thinking about your neighbors. It's writing and putting those members of Congress – look, there is no spine amongst those folks – but this is real."
He sympathized with exhausted Democratic voters.
"To the voters, I'm with this too. Everybody's fatigued. Trust me, I get it," Walz said. "It was pure hell, and the disappointment and the frustration, and I'm, you know, soul-searching – what could we have done to make the case? Because we knew this was coming. We knew the implication. And they're throwing so much at us that we're fatigued."
Then he turned to a recent controversy. The country spent days debating whether Trump ally Elon Musk gave a "Nazi salute" at a rally.
"Of course he did, but that is a distraction," Walz said. "And I am worried with these federal employees because look, they're in a tough spot, that some of these folks, especially those that are doing good work around environmental concerns, around justice for people, around, you know, criminal justice reform, all of the things that make our society better."
He warned against falling for distractions.
"Stay focused. Don't take the bait," he urged. "Recognize the things they went after today are basically a big chunk of what society does. People like clean water, hospitals, safety, roads, airports – all the things they are going after. We have to find that voice. We have to push back. We have to be organized."
Walz suggested using the courts but doubted Trump would care.
"I think it's taking it to the individual people. Show what each of these programs does and what it means for people's lives," he said.
Maddow agreed. "No matter what people motivated anybody's vote, if you didn't think you were voting to cut firefighting, if you didn't think you were voting to cut meat inspections, if you didn't think you were voting to cut air traffic control, well it's all becoming very, very clear right now."
She then mistakenly claimed it was Walz’s first interview since the election. It wasn’t. He had spoken with local Minnesota outlets in December.