Minneapolis, Minnesota - Former vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz on Saturday blasted Republican President Donald Trump as a "tyrant" during a law school graduation speech.

"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 graduates during the University of Minnesota Law School commencement ceremony.

"Every single day, the president of the United States finds new ways to trample rights and undermine the rule of law," he added.

The Minnesota governor campaigned alongside former Vice President Kamala Harris in an unsuccessful bid for the White House last year.

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Walz pointed toward Trump's crackdown on immigration and due process rights as well as the president's plan to accept a jet as a gift from the Qatari ruling family to use as Air Force One, according to the Associated Press.

"This is what the crumbling of rule of law looks like in real time. And it's exactly what the founders of this nation feared: a tyrant, abusing power to persecute scapegoats and enemies," the Democratic lawmaker said in his searing remarks.

"What you stand for is what makes America America," Walz told the graduates. "If we don't fight back now, why did we get elected, and why did we become attorneys to defend the law?"