Democratic presidential nominee and vice president Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, sparking an immediate social media frenzy as unearthed footage and headlines exposing Walz’s “radical” political record.
The Minnesota Democrat, who had been highly coveted by Harris’ far-left wing including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), accompanied Harris to a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, kicking off a multi-state tour of battleground states.
“One of the things that really struck me about Tim is how deeply he believes in fighting for middle-class families,” Harris said Tuesday as she announced her running mate.
Here are five notable statements from the former congressman and future vice presidential candidate that critics called “bizarre.”
Democratic Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz (Glenn Stubb/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
“Weird” is a hot topic
Walz called former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, “wackos,” in an insult that quickly became a talking point among Democrats across the country.
“You’ve got some weird people on the other side. They want to take away books. They want to get in the exam rooms. That’s what it comes down to,” he said on MSNBC last month. “Don’t sugar coat it. This is a weird idea.”
It’s an irony that the Harris campaign has embraced and seems to have stuck with the Trump campaign, which has aggressively redeployed its attacks on Democrats, this time by attacking their “radical” proposals.
As governor, Walz supports ‘sanctuary’ policies and services for illegal immigrants: ‘A victory for open borders’
“You know what’s really weird,” Donald Trump Jr. responded, “is that we have soft-on-crime politicians like Kamala who allow illegal immigrants to get out of prison so they can violently attack Americans.”
Vance used the label at a rally in Atlanta over the weekend, listing several policy positions that Harris has supported.
Walz hasn’t stopped using the word “weird” in his public speeches, and he did so again after being announced as Harris’ running mate at a Philadelphia rally on Tuesday.
“These guys are creepy and just really weird,” he said.
Socialism = Love your neighbor
When many people think of socialism, they think of forced wealth redistribution, extremely high tax rates, or the worst crimes committed by regimes like the Soviet Union.
But Waltz has recently portrayed socialism in a positive light, linking it to “love your neighbor.”
“We must never shy away from our progressive values.” Minnesota Democrats “One man’s socialism is another man’s neighborliness,” he said during a conference call last week with “White Men Supporting Harris.”
The video sparked immediate backlash on social media.
Mugshot of Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz after his 1995 DUI arrest in Nebraska
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks before President Joe Biden at Dutch Creek Farm on Nov. 1, 2023 in Northfield, Minnesota. (AP Photo/Abby Parr)
“Neighborhood killed my family” – Journalist Karol Markovits Posted in X.
“Walz’s claim that socialism is simply ‘love your neighbor’ is a lie that ignores the harsh realities faced by countless families under a socialist system,” said Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares. Posted in X.
“It’s strange,” said Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
“30 Foot Ladder Factory”
Walz has been criticized for his views on immigration, including his support for issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and sanctuary policies.
But Walz caught people’s attention by suggesting he would launch his own money-making scheme if Trump tried to build a new wall on the southern border.
“He talks about this wall, and I always say, tell me how high it is. If it’s 25 feet, I’ll invest in a 30-foot ladder factory,” he told CNN. “That’s not going to stop this.”
The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and some conservative critics used the brief remarks to attack Harris, pointing to her record as a “border czar” that continues to haunt her tenure as vice president.
J.D. Vance criticized Kamala Harris’ choice of Tim Walz as her running mate. (Getty Images)
“Get off the couch.”
Walz appeared to touch on some of the false claims about Vance on Tuesday as he spoke about his debate opponent.
“I can’t wait to debate this guy,” Waltz said, “if he’s willing to get up off the couch and show up, you know what I mean?”
It was clear from the cheers of the crowd and the look on Harris’ face that they understood what he was referring to.
Vice President Harris picks Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as running mate
The joke was a reference to false rumors on the Internet. Multiple fact checkersIn his book “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance claimed to have had sex with Sofa.
But despite repeated debunkings, Walz seems to revel in making false claims, making him its most notorious spreader to date.
Chinese luxury
New York Post This week, remarks were unearthed in which Waltz wrote in 1990 praising living conditions in China.
“No matter how long I live, I will never be treated so well again,” he told local media.
“They gave me more gifts than I could take home. It was a great experience,” Waltz said, adding that he was “very well taken care of.”
The remarks were made in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and amid ongoing, massive human rights violations under the communist regime that continue to this day.
US Vice President Kamala Harris attends an infrastructure event on high speed internet at the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, USA, on June 3, 2021. (Reuters/Evelyn Hochstein)
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Waltz isn’t the only one to face social media wrath over unearthed footage: His wife, Minnesota First Lady Gwen Waltz, also set social media ablaze on Tuesday and Wednesday after a clip of her 2020 interview went viral.
“We had another sleepless night during the riots,” Waltz’s wife told KSTP in July 2020. “We could smell the tires burning and it was real. We had the windows down for as long as we could because we felt that was a test of what was going on.”
The comments were described on social media as “bizarre” and “gross”.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
