Tim Walz clarifies stance after saying electoral college 'needs to go': 'Every vote counts in every place'

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed back against the notion that his recent remarks about abolishing the electoral college would mean disregarding rural voices, challenging the criticism by urging for a campaign approach that values the votes of every American, regardless of geography.

"[People] have to feel [that] every vote counts in every place of the country," he told Fox News' Shannon Bream on Sunday.

"I think what the point was on this is they see us in battleground states and not across the country, so the campaign's position is clear on this. That's not to get rid of the Electoral College, but it's to focus on every vote, and I think your viewers out there listening want to see these campaigns in every corner, talking to every person," he continued.

TIM WALZ CALLS FOR ELIMINATION OF ELECTORAL COLLEGE AT CALIFORNIA FUNDRAISER, SAYS ‘IT NEEDS TO GO’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz joined Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday," where he spoke on major issues like gun control, censorship and the electoral college. (Fox News Sunday)

The Minnesota Democrat formerly remarked that the electoral college "needs to go" and called for a national popular vote during a California fundraiser at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s private home in Sacramento.

The Harris campaign took a different position, however.

Walz has since backpedaled on his remark by aligning his stance with the campaign's, telling ABC host Michael Strahan, "I have spoken about it in the past, that she’s been very clear on this, and the campaign and my position is the campaign’s position."

In 2023, the Minnesota Democrat signed the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement in which each state would allocate all its electoral votes to whoever wins the popular vote for president, regardless of how individual states voted. 

TIM WALZ BACKPEDALS STATEMENT THAT THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE ‘NEEDS TO GO'

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris listens to her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, speak during a visit with members of the marching band at Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Georgia, August 28, 2024, as they travel across Georgia for a 2-day campaign bus tour. (Getty Images)

Bream also pressed Walz over his changing relationship with the NRA and his running mate Vice President Harris' previously touted stance on private gun ownership, which implied that warrantless searches for firearms inside legal gun owners' homes could be confiscated.

"No one's talking about that," he replied. 

"And I was with my guns yesterday out pheasant hunting with my friends, many of them conservatives on this, and I just want to be clear on this – the NRA is an organization that I grew up with, was about gun safety. There has been a dramatic shift, and I don't think anybody can argue where the NRA went, especially on things that we can't even do research on gun violence, and I've made it clear that sitting with the Sandy Hook parents, sitting with some of these kids who were in schools where there were school shootings and having friends that were around these things, had a profound impact on me."

He continued, "Look, I will defend the Second Amendment, and there's nothing that we're proposing, whether it's extreme risk protection orders or background checks, that will stop you from owning that, and I think we're talking about things like trigger locks and things that responsible gun owners do anyway. This is a red herring issue that we can own guns, protect the Second Amendment, and then our first responsibility is protect our children in society, and I know we can do that."

Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.