Walz calls Trump a "tyrant" who abuses power and violates rule of law

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota criticized Donald Trump in a law school graduation speech Saturday, accusing the Republican president of creating a national emergency by repeatedly violating the rule of law.

Walz, the vice presidential nominee in 2024, used his remarks at the University of Minnesota's law school commencement ceremony to call on graduates to stand up to abuses of power. Lawyers, he said, are "our first and last line of defense."

"Right now, more than any other time in my lifetime, we need you to live up to the oath that you're about to make. Because, I have to be honest with you: You are graduating into a genuine emergency," Walz told the crowd, which greeted him with loud applause. "Every single day, the president of the United States finds new ways to trample rights and undermine the rule of law."