Tim Walz calls for the end of the Electoral College at lavish Democratic fundraiser

The Electoral College has outlived its usefulness, according to Kamala Harris' running mate Tim Walz.

During a speech to donors at Gov. Gavin Newsom's home Tuesday in Sacramento, California, he said it should be replaced by a national popular vote.

The comments were quickly seized on by the Trump campaign, which accused Walz of preparing the groundwork to claim a win by the Republican candidate in November was illegitimate.

And the Harris campaign distanced itself from any suggestion that it was planning to abolish the Electoral College.

But Walz's comments highlight Democratic frustration at a system they believe clips their wings when their candidates have won the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections.

'I think all of us know the electoral college needs to go,' the Democratic vice presidential candidate said during the glitzy fundraising event. 

'But that's not the world we live in. 

'So we need to win Beaver County, Pennsylvania. We need to be able to go into York, Pennsylvania, and win. We need to be in western Wisconsin and win. We need to be in Reno, Nevada and win.'

Instead, he added: 'We need a national popular vote.'

The latest numbers from the DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners election model illustrates what is at stake for Democrats.

It gives Harris a more than 70 percent chance of winning the national vote, but Trump currently holds a 58.8 percent chance of coming out on top of the Electoral College, the state-by-state contest that actually decides who gets to live at the White House.

Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt took to X to denounce Walz's comments. 'Is Tampon Tim laying the groundwork to claim President Trump’s victory is illegitimate?' she posted.

The Harris campaign said it was not planning to abolish the Electoral College. 

'Governor Walz believes that every vote matters in the Electoral College and he is honored to be traveling the country and battleground states working to earn support for the Harris-Walz ticket,' it said.

'He was commenting to a crowd of strong supporters about how the campaign is built to win 270 electoral votes. And, he was thanking them for their support that is helping fund those efforts.'

It is not the first time Walz's loose talk has got him into trouble. 

He has had to correct comments about being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre (he arrived weeks later) and carrying firearms 'into war' (when he never served in a combat zone).

'I speak like everybody else speaks. I need to be clearer. I will tell you that,' he told reporters recently.

However, he is a public advocate for getting rid of the Electoral College.

As governor, Walz signed legislation last year that sought to replace it with a national popular vote. 

The current system involves 538 Electoral College votes, allocated to each state based on their number of members of Congress. Most states award them on a winner-take-all basis, and the candidate to rack up 270 or more wins power.