Gov. Tim Walz was invited to speak at a veteran’s rally Wednesday and received a rocky reception.

He took the stage in the Capitol Rotunda to a mix of cheering and booing along with a heckler yelling that Walz is a “coward.” 

The governor asked the heckler to let him finish while some other veterans shouted down the heckler.

“Hey, there’s some passion in the building, which is a good thing,” Walz said while trying to calm things down. 

“We’re going to have a debate, but I’ve made it clear I will not compromise with you on the budget,” Walz said about his plans for funding veterans’ programs. “I will not compromise in the space of veterans’ issues. We will fund them to where they need to be.”

One veteran who says he supports what the governor has done for veterans wasn’t surprised by some booing and heckling.

“A little bit of the boos is normal,” Randy Bibeau told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS during the rally. “We have divided politics in Minnesota. But he ran for vice president. What do you expect and stuff? They still disagree.”

The governor says he understands why many veterans are frustrated, but most of their frustration stems from cuts to veterans and the Veteran’s Administration at the federal level by the Trump administration. 

“Look, that’s what they’re going to do when these folks come here. But they’re going to have to face reality. Some of these guys voted for what’s happening at the VA and they don’t like it.”

Walz says the rocky reception from veterans won’t impact his efforts to get them the funding they deserve. “So if you want to fight social issues, if you want to fight issues on transportation or who the hell uses a bathroom, go fight ’em,” he said at the rally. “But if you want to fight for veterans, come in here, get behind the right budget and pass it!”

Walz says he’s proposing more funding for veterans than some legislative proposals, and they should be fighting with them, not him.